God and Girl is my first novel, written in 2015. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.
Mom dropped me off at Ellen’s around 8:00, right after youth group at church. We must complete this week’s science project no later than Thursday night since we are leaving for Mentone at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. Therefore, I have come to Ellen’s Wednesday night, to stay as long as it takes to at least complete a first draft.
“Let’s knock this paper out tonight even if we have to stay up all night. I don’t want to work on it at all tomorrow night.” Ellen said.
“Fine by me, I think I can talk Mom into letting me stay over.” I said.
This week’s assignment was from Jerry Coyne’s book, Why Evolution is True, on how amphibians evolved from fish. Ellen and I had earlier decided we wanted to study the fossil species, Tiktaalik roseae. It is transitional between fish and amphibians and was discovered in 2004.
“You start us off.” Ellen said.
We normally attacked our team-assignment by both reading the materials before we got together, then we would just talk our way into the most relevant parts trying to develop a working knowledge that we could dialog about.
“Since I didn’t read the Chapter very closely, I’m going to quote some and paraphrase some for now.” I said.
Ellen sat up straighter in her chair and cupped her hands behind her ears.
“Around 360 million years ago there were tetrapods, four-footed vertebrates that walked on land. Prior to then, say 30 million years earlier, the only vertebrates were fish. These tetrapods had flat heads and bodies, a neck, and strong legs and limbs. Kind of like modern-day amphibians. But, they also had characteristics like much older fish, more like the lobe-finned fish. These fish had bony fins they used to hold themselves up off the bottom of a lake. The tetrapods also had scales, limb and head bones.
So, the key question is, how did fish with fins evolve into land dwelling amphibians which obviously had limbs for walking? Okay, your turn.” I said.
“Okay. Evolution, as we have learned, is pretty good at predicting. The fossil record showed the lobe-finned fish but no land vertebrates around 390 million years ago but showed the land amphibians around 360 million years ago, so scientists knew they should find a transitional creature in between these times. And, that is what happened, although it took years of hard work to find these transitional fossils.
It was in the Canadian Arctic, Ellesmere Island, that scientists found the transitional fossil. They called it Tiktaalik roseae. It had gills, scales, and fins like a fish, but it also had a flattened head like a salamander, with eyes and nostrils, not on the side of the skull but on top. ‘This suggests that it lived in shallow water and could peer, and probably breathe, above the surface. The fins had become more robust, allowing the animal to flex itself upward to help survey its surroundings. Like early amphibians, Tiktaalik had a neck. Fish don’t have necks. Their skulls join directly to their shoulders.’ And, to show its ability to move on land it had ribs to help in pumping air into its lungs. Ribs also helped move oxygen from its gills. Note, Tiktaalik could breathe with both lungs and gills. Also, it had big, stronger and fewer bones in its limbs than lobe-finned fish had in their fins.
At some point down the line the grandchildren of Tiktaalik had the courage to walk onto land on their strong ‘fin-limbs,’ for reasons such as finding food or avoiding enemies. As we have learned, natural selection would continue to shape these transitional fossils into modern day amphibians if there was a benefit to living on land.” Ellen said.
“I like this statement, it seems to be a good summary statement we might can use. ‘That first small step ashore proved a great leap for vertebrate-kind, ultimately leading to the evolution of every land-dwelling creature with a backbone.’ And, I might add, land-dwelling creatures including humans.” I said.
“Okay, enough for now. You know we do our best work in phases, with each around 30 minutes long. So, it’s time to dance.” Ellen said.
We slow-danced to Adele with each of us mouthing words to each other as our eyes stayed locked. I could almost feel our hearts shedding their fins and their limbs, legs and all, and growing wings. Our time, our touch, our talks, started off earth-bond, water and land, but now our romance was starting to fly. I felt as though we were soaring above the earth, our wings touching so softly, so sweetly, so gently, on every down-stroke. Having Ellen by my side, in my heart, and in every cell of my being was something more than what is possible if we had come from fish and Tiktaalik’s. It was spiritual, heavenly, a fairy tale that came to live, instantly, from nothing, when we reached out to each other that night over a year ago at Ryan’s by the fire. We didn’t even touch. The reaching out had been more verbal, a word, words, and more visual, a look, looks. No matter, the words and the looks electrified the instant they were launched.
Our thirty-minute dance lasted nearly an hour. Then, we raced to her kitchen and spooned out two bowls of creamy/cheesy potatoes, sitting at her bar playing airplane with our spoons, feeding each other, laughing and giggling, sometimes unintentionally spewing potatoes onto the bar. Finally, we literally slapped each other’s delirium and sleepiness away and trudged back up to her room. We had a hard time getting back on track, evidenced by our silly and scary sketches and our human-like play-dough molds of Tiktaalik. “Okay, we have to focus. If we want to leave school early on Friday to go to Mentone we must finish this thing tonight. Get your laptop. I’ll start off. You just get some words down.” I said, because there was no way I would miss being in Mentone this weekend for my 16th birthday, and with my Always.
Two drafts and twenty edits later we were finished. At 4:15 a.m. we finally lay down for a two-hour nap. We didn’t even care to push wads of paper and eight Popsicle sticks off the bed.
Almost asleep, I couldn’t help but be proud of our work. And, I was proud of Ellen. Together, we had waded out into the murky water off Ellesmere Island and had seen for ourselves, learned for ourselves, a little more about where we came from, at least our bodies. I was so proud of Ellen because she is so resilient, focused, tough, determined when she needed to be. She is so in love with life and learning, and of course, me. Yea.
Thursday was a very long day at school. Ellen’s Mom woke us up when she was leaving at 6:30. She said for us to be ready to go by 8:15, that Ellen’s Dad was coming home from work to take us to school. She said she would cover for both of us, especially since we were having a first period pep-rally for the football team that was still in the playoffs.
Someway we made it through the day without an ISS (in school suspension) nomination and were eager to head to Dairy Queen afterwards. I don’t know why Ellen ordered a foot-long hot-dog with extra mustard and sour-kraut, but it sure did smell good, smelled better than it looked. So, I bought one for myself, along with an Oreo Blizzard. I guess last night’s marathon, and today’s lunch-skipping, spurred our appetites into pigdom. It might have been the same two things that triggered our conversation for the next forty minutes. Of course, it might have been all the sour-kraut.
“It seems rather clear that science has proven modern day humans and apes and chimps all descended from a common ancestor. It also seems clear that amphibians evolved from fish, and birds evolved from dinosaurs. There is just overwhelming evidence for evolution. But my quest, our quest, is truth. Just because evolution is real doesn’t mean there is no God and no afterlife. I think evolution disproves the Bible in so many ways, just start in Genesis with Adam and Eve. Could it be that the Bible writers just got a few things wrong?” I said.
“When was the Bible written?” Ellen asked.
“I’ve read that the Gospel of Mark was written around the year 70 AD, with the Gospels of Matthew and Luke written between 80 and 90 AD. The Gospel of John was not written until sometime in the second century, although there is some who argue it was written at the end of the first century. Others have said John was written by several different writers over a period of 25 to 30 years, that none of the words that Jesus purportedly says in John can be attributed to him. Also, some say that none of the miracles written in John were performed by Jesus— like turning water into wine or feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish or raising Lazarus from the dead. In addition, some scholars say that many, if not most, of the characters in John are literary creations, that it was never intended by the writers for them to be taken as actual, living, breathing people.” I said.
“Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John write their own gospels?” Ellen asked.
“No, the Gospels were written by anonymous authors. As we’ve seen, the gospels were written generations after Jesus’ crucifixion in what is thought to be the year 33 AD. It is most likely that they were written by very educated men, smart scholars, in Greek, not Aramaic like the disciples spoke. Most of the men and women living during this time were wholly ignorant peasants. They certainly could not read or write.” I said.
“The writers of the Gospels may have been the brightest and smartest, the most educated, of their day, but I suspect they didn’t really know too much about evolution. They had never met or heard of Lucy and the Naledi’s. Right?” Ellen said.
“Of course, you are right. They likely hadn’t even heard of Adam and Eve. There is argument among Biblical scholars as to when the Old Testament was written, and by whom. Some say Genesis, or at least the creation story itself including the creation of Adam and Eve, was added to the Old Testament during the time the gospels were being written. Until I started reading and researching these topics a couple of years ago, I had always believed that the Bible could be taken literally and that it was written by eye-witnesses pretty much, and that it was written by a lot of different writers, all separated in time and place, but all under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It seems this is in no way true. When you get to looking carefully you learn that even the Gospels have undergone many revisions since the first drafts. Mark even had a new ending tacked onto it.
As you say, all the writers of both the New and Old testaments knew so little about the world. It is easy to see how they got a lot of things wrong, especially if science was involved at all.
Does this mean there isn’t any truth in the Bible, that there is no God, no Jesus, no afterlife?” I said.
“I think too many people think it is all or nothing when it comes to the Bible. That you must either accept or reject the Bible. You and I seem to be carving out a new path, a new way of thinking. At least for us. We certainly are no scholars.” Ellen said.
“I agree we are not scholars, but we are curious, and we are creative. I also agree that there is a better way, a third way of thinking that holds promise for me and you at least.
Why can’t we accept that evolution is true, that the Bible is a wonderful literary creation that is only partially true? Those parts are relevant to today. Just because the writers of the Gospels didn’t know about evolution they may have known something about Jesus even if they were not themselves eyewitnesses. It is very believable that some truths can be passed down as oral tradition.” I said.
“It seems the crucifixion is vitally important to Christianity. It is the key, the absolute key. I agree with you, writings can be false just like spoken words can, but also writings and spoken words can be true. If Jesus died on a cross that is something people who witnessed it would remember and tell their wives and children about, over and over. And, these children would grow up with that story and they would tell it to their children and it would become an oral tradition. Obviously, parts of it would change but hopefully the core truth would be maintained.” Ellen said.
“It seems a shame that modern day Christians—let me say, Southern Baptists because I have firsthand knowledge about them, including me—believe we have the absolute truth. Don’t you think it is almost guaranteed that 2,000 years from now scholars, pastors, and church members, will have learned something, both about Christianity and the world? It’s inevitable there will be zillions of more scientific discoveries. I would also bet there will be new findings, maybe even some revelations. It may be by then that a whole new Bible has been written and in it the story of Jesus being married. I guess we better not anticipate that a new Bible will reveal that Jesus was married to John. Dad would just die.” I said.
“What a thought. I mean, to look 2,000 years down the road and compare the knowledge then to now.” Ellen said.
“And let’s not ever forget that the Naledi believed in an afterlife. Maybe, they didn’t, but they at a minimum had a burial ritual. That need, that belief, came from somewhere. I want to think I am close to believing, that they thought death was not the end of life. And, get this, they had never heard the name of Jesus.” I said.
“Or God. At least not in any language any human in the past 100,000 years could understand.” Ellen said.
“I want to continue pursuing our third way of thinking.”
The Pencil-Driven Life 