Sunspots 972

Some things that I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

Joel Duff is perhaps the most articulate anti-Young-earth creationist blogger. He understands criticism, and knows the literature. When I  previously looked his posts, they were not entirely textual, but were mostly YouTube videos. That's not true now. His work includes videos, but the content of the video is generally also presented in text form, where it can be quoted, and where users can see what Duff has to say without disturbing anyone who doesn't want to listen. A recent post concerns the realization, by many Young-Earth Creationists, that it is impossible to explain supposed effects of the Flood, over a brief time period. Here's Duff's post: (The title begins with "Divine Intervention in Geology." an intriguing subject.)

One of my readers noted that the post above had an incorrect link. I believe that it is now corrected, and thank that reader.

Scientific American has a good article on how and why many trees change color in the fall.

Thanks for looking! I hope to publish Sunspots from time to time, but have ceased publishing every week.

Death, Life, and 1 Corinthians 15

 

The graphic above should is an attempt to portray 1 Corinthians 15:53, which says "For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality." The leaves were dying when the photo was taken. The flower bud was ready to wait for 5 or 6 months to wake up and open.

In preparing the graphic, I came across a most relevant statement in a public domain dictionary: "Local death is going on at all times, and in all parts of the living body, in which individual cells and elements are being cast off and replaced by new; a process essential to life." Indeed! Even biologists often don't attach enough significance to the work of decomposer organisms, such as fungi.

Paul (and other Biblical sources) teach that there will be a physical resurrection -- believers will have some sort of physical body, superior to the ones we now have. Christ already has such a body. I don't have a clue as to what that will be like, and you don't, either, although your ideas may be better than mine.

The plant was a dogwood tree, growing near Clemson, South Carolina. That's Lake Hartwell in the background.

Thanks for looking, and reading.

Excerpts from Orthodoxy, by Gilbert K. Chesterton, 16

I have explained that the fairy tales founded in me two convictions; first, that this world is a wild and startling place, which might have been quite different, but which is quite delightful; second, that before this wildness and delight one may well be modest and submit to the queerest limitations of so queer a kindness. But I found the whole modern world running like a high tide against both my tendernesses; and the shock of that collision created two sudden and spontaneous sentiments, which I have had ever since and which, crude as they were, have since hardened into convictions. First, I found the whole modern world talking scientific fatalism; saying that everything is as it must always have been, being unfolded without fault from the beginning. The leaf on the tree is green because it could never have been anything else. Now, the fairy-tale philosopher is glad that the leaf is green precisely because it might have been scarlet. He feels as if it had turned green an instant before he looked at it. He is pleased that snow is white on the strictly reasonable ground that it might have been black. Every colour has in it a bold quality as of choice; the red of garden roses is not only decisive but dramatic, like suddenly spilt blood.

Orthodoxy, first published in 1908, by G. K. Chesterton, is in the public domain, and available from Project Gutenberg. The previous post in this series is here.  Thanks for reading! Read Chesterton.

Jesus, light of the world -- John 8:12, quoting Isaiah 60:1

 

An attempt to portray John 8:12, which says "Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life." (World English Bible, public domain. Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 60:1.) The pink material on the left is bracts from one of our dogwoods. (The leaves and stems are beautiful, too!)

Thanks for looking! Isn't God a great artist?

I'm thankful for pigments

I’m thankful for pigments – chemicals that absorb some colors of light, but reflect some. There are the pigments in my eyes that let me see color. Then, even more important, the pigments in leaves, which absorb some of the sun’s energy, so that plants can make food. (Not green pigments – green light mostly goes right through leaves, or bounces off them.) Some of these pigments are still there when the green is gone, making fall colors. And then there are signal pigments, in many animals and birds, and even plants, which help them attract mates, or warn off enemies, or attract pollinating insects. And pigments that make things just plain beautiful.

Thanks for reading!

Resurrection thoughts

The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences were the "gospel" or good news which the Christians brought: what we call the "gospels," the narratives of Our Lord's life and death, were composed later for the benefit of those who had already accepted the gospel. They were in no sense the basis of Christianity: they were written for those already converted. The miracle of the Resurrection, and the theology of that miracle, comes first: the biography comes later as a comment on it. Nothing could be more unhistorical than to pick out selected sayings of Christ from the gospels and to regard those as the datum and the rest of the New Testament as a construction upon it. The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Resurrection.
- C.S. Lewis, Miracles, Chapter 16 (1947)



I took this photo of a maple leaf last October. That leaf was dead. I could have taken it to any university in the world, and offered a reward of billions of dollars, or Euros, or yen, and all the resources of that university would have been unable to bring that one leaf back to life. Death is irreversible -- the final triumph of the Second Law of Thermodynamics over a living thing. But Christ was resurrected. The greatest miracle of all. He triumphed over death!

And, said Paul, that triumphant power, resurrection power, is available to believers:

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1, ESV, emphasis added.)

Blessed Easter!

Colored leaves in heaven?

I'm currently living in Southern California, where there isn't a lot of evidence of fall color change. (There's some--there are quite a few sweet gums grown here.)

A post by Bonnie, consisting of a photo of yellow maple leaves, lead to this musing. (I thought about writing "only yellow maple leaves," or "just yellow maple leaves," but decided that no leaf or leaves should be minimized in that way.) The musing is this -- will leaves change their colors in heaven?

I know of no scriptural evidence on that matter. However, C. S. Lewis put it like this, writing about heaven after Narnia:
"All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door." (The Last Battle, New York: Macmillan, 1956)

There is scriptural evidence for leaves in heaven.

What do you think?

Kudzu leaves

The picture above is of some kudzu leaves. Kudzu is not yet in bloom in upstate South Carolina, but, as you can see from yesterday's post, it is, as usual, thriving. Kudzu is one of the last plants to put forth new growth in the Spring. It is quite sensitive to frost. There will be blooms later. It grows rapidly, and I have never had a student from the Northeast or Midwest who didn't notice the ubiquity of kudzu during the season when it grows, as I did. I am still amazed at it, after four decades of living near it. If unchecked, it covers acres of land, and will cover buildings, trees, and other plants. The name is Japanese, apparently. It grows so well because there are few, or no, natural enemies of kudzu here. It is rare to find insect holes in kudzu leaves.
Woodchucks often live in holes in banks where kudzu is growing.
Kudzu is a member of the legume, or pea family of flowering plants. (Legume is a fancy name for pod.) This family is one of the most important families of plants, because they can fix Nitrogen, thus making it available for use in proteins, nucleic acids, and other essential molecules of living things. Vegetarians generally eat one or more legumes regularly.
Kudzu flowers, leaves and roots are edible (links go to recipes). The kudzu root apparently resembles jicama, or yam bean, root. Jicama (not kudzu) is available in some grocery stores in the area. I have grown to like it over the last year or so. I have yet to eat kudzu. Maybe someday.
* * * * * *
Addendum, January 19, 2006: Over the last few days, our Flickr photo of kudzu, which is the photo above, has experienced some 260 views. If you have been assigned this page for a school assignment, or have assigned it, good (although I'd be pleased to find out, if this is true). If you see any needed improvements, or have suggestions, please comment or contact me otherwise. Thanks.

Leaves, Part II: Leafless and Leafy in the Bible

A previous post suggested that the first technological act of humans involved leaves. Adam and Eve, as we too often do, messed things up, and God clothed them with something else. It also suggested that there will be leaves in heaven, and that they may be carrying on photosynthesis forever.

Two other musings about leaves in the Bible.

1) Psalm 1 describes the godly person, the person who loves God, as being like a tree, a tree that has leaves that don't wither. For plants, leaves are a way of catching energy from a tremendous outside source. This is turned into nourishment for the plant. Surely there is a good reason why the Psalmist used this method of describing the godly person. She is a person who is tuned to God, receiving energy from Him, nourishing her soul, and that of others.

2) Isaiah 56:3 has an interesting statement: ". . . neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree." (KJV) Isaiah explains the meaning. God, through Isaiah, promised even strangers, people who were not Israelites, and eunuchs, that they could be part of God's people. Both classes were usually excluded from full participation in the congregation. Isaiah said that they didn't need to be. There was, of course, a condition. That was that they kept God's law. Not just any non-Israelite, nor any eunuch, was accepted fully by God. Only those that followed Him were.

Dry tree might mean no fruit, or no leaves, or both. I'm not sure. But there's no reason anyone can't be part of God's followers, if they meet the conditions. I don't want to be dry. I want to have fruit, and leaves.

Leaves: on uniformity and diversity

I confess--I have taught botany a few times. No doubt it is showing.

I have no idea how many leaves there are in the world, but there must be trillions, at least. Don't forget, grass blades are leaves.

Leaves are Uniform
Most leaves have, as their main function, photosynthesis, trapping light and turning the energy into chemical energy stored as food. Since light can't travel very far in a leaf, leaves aren't very thick--the under parts of thick leaves would be useless in photosynthesis if they were.

Photosynthesis requires, in addition to light, various enzymes and pigments. It also requires two common raw materials, namely Carbon Dioxide and water. Almost all leaves need a reliable supply of water, carried up from the roots. The roots, and other non-green parts, require food. They get it carried down from the leaves. The carrying apparatus has sturdy cells, which withstand water pressure. These groups of sturdy cells make up the veins of leaves. The transportation apparatus also serves to hold the leaf relatively flat, and spread it out, which means that it can absorb more sunlight.

Leaves are uniform in the sense that most of them are thin green objects with thickened veins. That's probably the best way leaves could be.

Leaves are Diverse
I don't have to tell you that. Different species of plants have different shapes of leaves. Leaves are different shapes on the same plant, depending on how old they are, and a lot of other things, some, no doubt, chance. Leaves are different colors, even on the same plant. They are also different sizes.

I can't prove it, of course, but I suspect that there have never been two exactly identical leaves in the history of the world. (See here for a discussion of this subject, on snowflakes.)

Leaves are both uniform and diverse.

God loves both uniformity and diversity.

Some of the evidence for uniformity has to do with living things. Genesis 1, in the KJV, uses "after his kind," repeatedly. Now, we don't really know what correspondence, if any, there is between that phrase and scientific terms such as species and genus. But I think it is reasonable to assume that oaks and, say, daisies, are not the same kind. They don't have the same leaves. But oak leaves, at least those of the same species, have considerable uniformity. With experience, we can match most fallen leaves to their source. The leaves of one kind of plant are alike. There is uniformity there.

Some of the evidence has to do with God's people. They were uniform, as well, in intention and action, at least some times. Exodus 24:3 says that the congregation agreed unanimously to keep the covenant. (They didn't, of course) Acts 2:1 and 2:46 say that the early church was united in spirit.

God loves diversity
The Psalmist, in 104:24-25, wrote
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
[So is] this great and wide sea, wherein [are] things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

We don't know how many species there are. It is likely that most of them are unclassified. Informed estimates range as high as 30 million. Apparently many species used to exist, but are extinct.

God loves diversity in the church. Apparently the early church had diversity of gifts, of temperaments, and of ethnic extraction. It still should. We must also be uniform in our acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord.

Leafless

Well, I didn't claim, in this previous post, to be the only person who finds beauty in trees in winter, and it's a good thing I didn't, because I'm not.

See Bonnie's posts here, and here and here (including photos), and especially here (lots of photos).

Clearly, I haven't been subscribing to her blog long enough. Thanks, Bonnie!

I just went over to Flickr (it's free, but you have to join) and searched for "leafless," and saw some other good pictures.

A Google search for "leafless" turned up a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on "The Leafless Tree," based on Isaiah 6:13, delivered in 1857. A Google image search turns up quite a few photos, some apparently of a rock group with that name.

I expect to get back to some more musings on trees and leaves in future posts.

Leaves, Part I

We wouldn't be here without leaves.

Photosynthesis is the process by which the sun's light energy is captured, and stored as a different kind of energy, chemical energy. Without that process, the food we depend on wouldn't be available. Some people think that photosynthesis is important because it generates Oxygen. It does, but there's plenty of Oxygen--the atmosphere is about 20% Oxygen. There would still be many centuries worth of Oxygen, long after we ran out of food, if photosynthesis were suddenly turned off.

We do eat leaves. Consider lettuce and spinach, for example. We are also eating leaves when we eat cabbage. Most of our food isn't leaves, however. It's other plant parts, where some of the energy from photosynthesis is stored, or it's animals, who have themselves eaten leaves. Cows, for instance, do eat leaves. Lots of leaves. They also eat stems.

Before going too far with leaves, I'd better acknowledge a couple of things. There are other processes that store energy. Photosynthesis isn't the only one. But it's the most important. Also, there are other plant parts that carry out photosynthesis. Many plant stems do, and so do other parts. But leaves are important. So is photosynthesis, the main reason they are.

Not only are leaves important, they are beautiful. They are certainly numerous. Our language, and, no doubt, other languages, reflect the fact that leaves are common by using the word, leaf, or the word, leaves, and various derivatives, for other things than plant parts. Probably the most common non-plant use is the word, leave, in the sense of depart or abandon. The Online Etymology Dictionary doesn't indicate any connection between the words for plant part and departure. I almost wish there was a connection.

I intend to say a little about what the Bible has to say about leaves, and, probably, mention some literary references, in further posts.

Let's start with the first mention of leaves I found in the Bible. You probably knew what it was already. Here it is:
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3:7 (KJV)

Leaves, therefore, are part of what seems to be the first record of the use of technology by humans. Covering themselves with leaves wasn't God's plan, but that of Adam and Eve. God soon covered them with animal skin. From the very beginning, fallen humanity has had problems with the use of technology. It can be used for God's glory, but it certainly isn't always.

Here's the last mention of leaves: In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2.

We aren't, if you please, ever going to leave leaves. Nor, probably, photosynthesis. We need to be careful in interpreting Revelation, but it reads as if leaves are going to go right on capturing light energy throughout eternity. (From what source?)

Thanks for reading. I must leave now.