SURVIVAL AND PROCREATION
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Somehow my mind locked onto John Steinbeck’s
summary of the life purpose of living creatures: survival and procreation.
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Steinbeck’s observations were in the
Sea of Cortez. I do mine on Puget Sound. There is much to observe, as we
have done here for more than a half century.
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Just last evening we watched many rings
on the water stirred by jumping fish. Little fish. You know they aren’t dancing
to entertain us. And they are not rising for flies. They are trying to survive
the feeding of larger fish that are chasing them.
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We see creatures doing what they need
to do to survive. It’s not always pretty. Life lives off of other life. Humans
as well. Whether we eat from our tomato plants or mussels from the beach,
we live in the food chain. We’re trying to survive. We want to keep our own
dance going as long as possible.
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We also see procreation. Babies of all
species, born of the courtship chemistry implanted in all life. We see the
end of life and scavenger creatures and the skeletal remains of millions
of once living life.
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It is not much of a leap to remember
our youth here, the bringing of our newborns here, then our grandchildren.
We see ourselves aging and take the ashes of friends, neighbors, family to
be scatter on the waters in reunion with the greater life.
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Some would separate the human species
from other life. We think ourselves a special wonder of creation. Maybe so,
but in truth any life anywhere is a wonder. To want to survive is a universal
trait in life. To want to see the species into generations to come is also
in us all. Humans, perhaps, have the will and desire – when they are truly
human – to seek survival and procreation for a whole planet full of life
besides our own.
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Nature seems to have devised some system
that allows life to live. Has religion actually contributed anything to this
process? Sadly, religion is still arguing whether the human species is part
of nature or not. I would invite you to ponder the question on the shores
of Puget Sound.
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