Hum Bugs

I remember the first time I saw a hummingbird. It was a pretty big deal. I was in either grade 2 or 3. It was a split class and I can’t remember which side of the classroom I was actually on, but I do remember the room on the lower floor of the north side of the Great Village Elementary school. There were large shrubs outside the big windows in the front (west) side of the school and they had grown up into the view of the windows and, suddenly, one day there he was in all his glory, shining in the sun. I remember all of us kids running off to the window to see this marvelous feat of engineering, one of God’s many wonders. Even the teacher got caught up in the moment as all control of the classroom was suddenly lost and captured by God’s handiwork on display as we stood in silence with wide eyes.

I don’t know whether I hadn’t really been observant enough to see them before that day, or if they have just gotten more plentiful in more recent years, but it sure seems like it was a much rarer thing to see a hummingbird when I was a kid than it is now. Isn’t it funny how we are so interested in the things that are rare and tend to overlook the wonder of the common place? Curious thing. Something I need to give more thought to. I mean, who get’s excited when they see a blue jay! And yet, they are pretty spectacular really. It’s like the old saying, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’.

Evolutionists say that similarities between different species (comparative anatomy) is evidence for evolution. This is typical. A personal bias leads to a certain conclusion without consideration for alternative explanations. Why wouldn’t similarities between different species be evidence for a common Creator? After all, every artist has his own style and considering natural principles of aerodynamics, etc, wouldn’t we expect to see design patterns?

Having said all of that, a few days ago, Florence and I were in the back yard when, suddenly, there he was, in all his glory, shining in the sun – something that neither one of us had ever seen before. He was almost the size of my thumb and at first I thought he was a tiny hummingbird. On closer examination though, it was evident he was more of an insect, maybe, sort of, with a body like a bee. But he flies just like a hummingbird and has a long protruding beak thing (‘proboscis’) for retrieving nectar just like a hummingbird.

I ran and got the camera and took his picture so here he is. Nice lilacs too eh! Of course, I went online right away and googled him. I discovered that he is not a ‘humbug’. Just a thought that was in the back of my mind. I found out that he is, in fact, a ‘hummingbird moth’.

I also found this video of the same guy if you want to see him fly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC-6Bpo7dhk

Just another of God’s amazing wonders. They seem to be almost endless. That’s because in spite of the many similarities in design pointing to a common Designer, the seemingly endless variations within God’s design work point to One who is infinite in his imaginative and creative power.

Steve