Earth and Water

I’ve been pondering some apologetics lately and the ones that seem to stick with me most are based on nature. I never cease to be amazed by the precision with which the earth has been placed in relation to the sun. All of us critters of every species, especially mammals, and even more especially homo sapiens, have an extremely narrow window of temperature tolerance. A few degrees above or below the mid 70’s Fahrenheit and we are either uncomfortably cold or hot. A few tens of degrees difference and we are in danger of hypothermia or heat stroke. A few thousand feet of elevation makes a huge difference. And even though the earth maintains a constant distance from the sun, the tilt of the axis, an amazing thing that gives us seasons, is enough to cause terrifically hot summers and frozen winters, neither of which are survivable for us without some kind of clothing and shelter. And then we just happen to be one of the few rocks flying around in space to have an atmosphere, which buffers the wildly fluctuating surface temps most planets endure between sun and shadow.

Here is a nice science project for some enterprising student: Figure out the effect on global temperatures if the earth’s axis was off one degree in one direction or the other. Or what would happen if we were one earth diameter closer or further away from the sun. I haven’t done this myself or seen the research that is probably already out there somewhere, but based on the extremes of our seasons, I would make an educated guess that either of these conditions would probably make life on earth as we know it impossible.

Then there is the issue of water. So far this most common of things in our existence hasn’t been found anywhere else in space in liquid form. It could be out there somewhere. I think it probably is because there’s ice in comet tails. But it would seem that it is as rare off this ball as it is common on it. The majority of the composition of our very bodies is of this stuff and it may exist nowhere else. The mechanism by which it evaporates up into clouds and gets rained down on us and gets purified by filtering through the ground and wells up in springs and flows down streams and rivers, around and around the cycle is sophisticated engineering on a massive scale. Water gives life to our bodies and sitting by a flowing river or watching ocean waves roll in gives nourishment to our souls. Pretty great stuff, H2O, even though I still don’t like rain when I'm on a motorcycle, ungrateful wretch that I am.

I was thinking about all this Friday morning while I was reading Psalm 104 that says, among other things, that “He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment… He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains…” and it goes on about water. Then later in the morning my friend used this imagery while leading a worship time I attended. This is all such obvious God stuff to me. It helps me believe. If you think all this happened by chance, then you have far more faith than I do.