Sticks and stones
TCS has a great
column on the modern tendency to make sure no one* is ever offended.
*Well, not literally no one - it's ok to offend certain people. You know who you are.
Beauty and evolution
In the trip to Nevis mentioned below, I also went scuba diving (a new hobby - I just got certified last year). Scuba is (once you get over the rather terrifying sensation of being 60 feet under water with a limited supply of air) very relaxing.
As we swam slowly along the reef, we spotted fish after fish of astonishing beauty. I am sure there is a very good evolutionary explanation for the incredible colors and designs of tropical fish, but it strikes me that the best explanation is a Creator who delights in beauty. That's not to say He didn't use a method of creating the beauty that's consistent with evolution, just that I can't look at some of these creatures and not think that He put them there just for the sheer joy of it.
Ambition vs. the good life
A recent visit to the island of Nevis (part of St. Kitts and Nevis) gave me a chance to reflect on the nature of our goal-oriented society. Nevis is a small island (about 32 sq. miles) with about 10,000 people living on it. Things move at a slow pace and many people there have a relaxed attitude toward life. It's a beautiful place (also home to what the locals claim is the oldest church in the Americas and the first church built specifically for blacks and whites to worship together, although the blacks invited into the latter were the slaves of the builder) and it is easy to see why it might be tempting to experience life at a slower pace.
By comparison, American life seems frenetic. We're always striving to do more (earn more money, accomplish another project, etc.)
Now, I certainly didn't notice people in Nevis devoting their leisure to, say, Bible study. (It's possible that there was a lot of that going on, along with the more visible activity of sitting on the beach with a beer - maybe those people had all memorized lots of Scripture and were trading quotes or something). But it's not clear to me that a life with more time spent contemplating the beauty of God's creation, which is evident all around us, even in North East Ohio, isn't better than a race to get all the things on our to-do list done.
