Evolutionary Thoughts

EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHTS

       I woke up early last Sunday morning feeling pretty darned good.  My hubby and I got ready for early church (8:am) then we sat down for breakfast.  While having coffee and a bite to eat, I turned on the TV, planning to catch the forecast on the weather channel.  I was greeted by a real pulpit pounder.  Ordinarily I would have changed channels, however, the subject matter snagged my interest.  Shock prevented me from remembering the preacher's name, but when  an apparently well educated man announced that anyone who believed in evolution of any form would be going straight to hell, I went a trifle ballistic.
        I state firmly and without a moment of  hesitation that I'm a card-carrying, church-going Christian.   I'm not often so consumed with anger that I find myself totally speechless and feel grossly wronged.  I do believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things seen and unseen, and also believe some aspects of the Biblical story of creation.  Although my core of belief is that most of the story has been distorted over the millennia.  After all, nobody was there to record what happened.
         Why can't hard line Christians understand that evolution and religion can thrive together?  Yes, I believe that God created our world.  I also have many questions and I'm a voracious reader.  Have you ever wondered why we are alone in this vast universe?  And of all the ape-like creatures who began walking upright, why we, homo sapiens, were chosen to evolve while other hominids fell into extinction?
           In a very moving letter written by my brother following the death of his wife, he rales at God for causing or allowing her death to occur.  He wondered why God either allowed or caused such a tragedy to happen.  But at the end of his dissertation, he puts forth his supposition that God simply started every thing in process at the beginning of time.  He had no direct input into the accident and decline of his wife's health that led to her death.
           The theory of "Divine Intervention" along the pathway of evolution is not my invention.  This particular theory (along with many others) has been bantered about for several years.  Many archeologists and paleontologists are atheists.  However, there are a growing number of scientists, investigators and biblical scholars who are leaning toward this new line of thinking.  I am among them.  Divine Intervention.  I like the sound of that. 
           With new bones and other relics being uncovered, photographed and studied, all the evidence is pointing to a certainty that man did indeed evolve from and along side primitive apes into what we are today.  It is not outside the realm of possibility that God set our planet on its course and when man evolved to a certain point, He was happy with the results and gave us a soul--the very essence of our humanity.