Evolve to Survive: Replicate strategies that work
Dr. Matthew Sleeth, former emergency room doctor, eco-evangelist, and author wrote a book called Reforesting Faith. In it, Dr. Sleeth recounts the evolution of the Biblical story through trees. Consistent use of trees in the Bible, Sleeth insists, “points to one Author” even though the Bible was written over the centuries by many people. The Biblical story can be told through three trees. The first tree, the Tree of Life, is in Genesis in the garden of Eden. This very same tree appears in the very last book of the Bible, Revelation. Bookended by the Tree of Life, is the second tree, the cross where Jesus died and ignited life through resurrection. “Every significant theological event in the Bible is marked by a tree… every major character in the Bible appears in conjunction with a tree.”
Take the quiz to connect a tree (or part of a tree) with a character.
When you encounter trees, vines, bushes, walking staffs, crosses, etc., in the Bible you should get excited. You may even hear music, like the infamous two note theme song from Jaws, playing in your head. Da dum… da dum… You want to be super aware… something’s about to happen.
DivineSite: The Biology- Replicate strategies that work
Life replicates strategies that work. Behaviors that are successful are reinforced and reproduced. These behaviors are taught to or mimicked by offspring or members in the community.
Have you realized there are systems within the human body that look a lot like systems on the earth? Both “create conditions conducive to life.” If the consistent use of trees through the Biblical story points to one Author then the replication of the following strategies must point to that genius Author as well! Can you tell from the following which is a picture of a tree canopy and an x-ray of human lungs?
There are a lot of similarities! The picture on the left is an x-ray of the bronchial tree of our lungs!
Can you tell what is below?
On the left is a picture I took of a river system in Costa Rica. Think back to the fifth grade when you learned about the hydrologic cycle. The river system is the part where water is transported from land to the ocean where water evaporates into the atmosphere and is then returned to the land through rain and the cycle continues. On the right is an illustration of our body's blood circulatory system made up of veins, arteries, and capillaries. The heart pumps blood to the lungs to receive oxygen and then through the body via arteries. Oxygen depleted blood returns to the heart via veins. These cycles “create conditions conducive to life.” We could not survive without inputs from the hydrologic cycle. Is this coincidence or the genius design of our Creator? It makes me smile to think that God replicated this strategy and is winking at us saying “well, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” or “work smarter, not harder.”