Thursday, October 18, 2007

And God Created the Platypus…

This one is for my friend NG over at Alice’s Adventures Underground who stated on this blog that if she could ask God one question it would be, “What about the platypus?”

Here’s my philosophy on that. If you insist on following along in your Bible, go to the first chapter of Genesis and skip ahead to the part where God starts to create the plants and animals and fishes and birds and so on. Here’s the part of the Bible that’s missing. I’m about to fill it in for you, so pay attention, because this is a participatory exercise.

And now Goddess did see this earth that She had created and being a nurturing soul, She did gather round Her all Her spirit children. And behold, She did say unto them, Hark! Behold this earth which needs to be filled with all manner of glorious and practical creations. Lo, I know I could take this entire venture upon myself, but tonight is Goddesses Night Out and I missed last month’s get together with Asherah, Anu, Gaia, Venus, Mahimata, and Mary. Behold, here are buckets of crayons and reams of paper, slabs of clay and plaster, tubes and tins of paint, loads of Legos and Erector sets, and all manner of material with which to craft and design creatures of variety.

And it came to pass that Elohimina did go out for the evening with the Goddess Gals for a night of fun and frivolity. And it also came to pass that the children of the Goddess did take up their pencils and crayons, their paints and their clay, their plaster and paper, and they did begin to snip and sketch and color. And as there were no limitations placed on their imaginations, the results were not only bountiful, but equally beautiful and bizarre, utilitarian and decorative, balanced and nuanced.

And now it further came to pass that Elohimina did return home and was delighted to see the variety and diversity represented in each offering. And seeing the goodness of it all, she did say unto Her children, Behold and hark and lo, I am much pleased with what is presented and it shall all have a place on and in and over and under and around (the Goddess liked prepositions, by the way) the earth and the oceans and the skies. And thus it was. And it was good.


Put in non-scriptural parlance, assuming you believe in some kind of divine creator being, I think we all got to make something to be a part of the earth. One of us created the Gerbera daisy and another created lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Someone put together the whales and dolphins and someone else decided spiders and flies would be good. Down at the table in the corner, someone else borrowed a bill here and some webbed feet there and some leftover fur from the creation of an otter. They slapped it all together and lo, and behold, the platypus. The Goddess, Elohimina, having a sense of humor, fun, and fair play declared, “I love it!” and made it so.

There. That’s my philosophy. If my philosophy holds water, what do you think you created?

P.S. Please note for the record that I developed this philosophy as a counterpoint to those who insist God had all the fun and did it all by Himself. Preferring to be more egalitarian, this is what I came up with one night while enjoying a little respite with my own coloring books and crayons.

Photo copyrights: Google Images for the platypus and D.C. Confidential for the Gerbera Daisies.

10 comments:

NG said...

Hmmm... given that irrefutable logic, I probably had a hand in creating the platypus. Either that or the boojum tree.

Cele said...

Oh most excellent explaination. But I'm assuming it was PSM that had a hand in spiders and flies.

Elaine Denning said...

I created the wine. Without a shadow of a doubt. And it flowed forth, in great, oozing lakes.

Cele said...

If I could have a hand in creating something it would be peace. And it hasn't happened yet, so I must have taken that day off.

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

NG: I've seen what you've created and they're both adorable! But, if we go with my logic, I'd say either the platypus or the boojum tree are pretty cool. I'll bet you like Dr. Seuss, too, eh?

Cele: PSM? I'm glad you like my explanation. As for creating peace, I wonder if we can get an extension on the deadline or something?

Ms. U: I've always wondered about the origin of wine. Pass me a glass, will you? Cheers!

Anonymous said...

I love this!

Sister Mary Lisa said...

Great stuff, Tewkes! (Elohimina, funny stuff. I called her Eloher once)...

I'm certain I had a hand in creating birds. I have a huge affinity for birds.

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

AV: I had a feeling you would. I wonder what Jasper contributed? Perhaps you could ask him and get back to us?

SML: I love birds! What bird did you have a hand in?

Sister Mary Lisa said...

Swans hold a particularly special place in my heart. Also, lately I've been noticing the sandhill cranes in my soccer travels. Beautiful birds.

Janet Kincaid said...

Swans are lovely. I wish we had more of them here. In fact, I'd trade of flock of Canadian geese for a pair of swans.

Sandhill cranes are also beautiful. We have blue herons out here. I love watching them fly. So elegant.