The reason we humans share so much
of our genetic code with one another and other living beings is that our
different bodies use the same biochemical processes to stay alive. Both toads
and humans breathe, and most of the genetic instructions for using the oxygen
we inhale is the same for both toads and humans. Both humans and elm trees
respire, and many of the chemical pathways accomplishing this are identical for
trees and man. When this how-to information was encoded in the genes of the
earliest, very simple life forms, it was passed on in the genes to subsequent
generations who built upon the information as they evolved into new, more
complex species.
One consequence of accepting these
facts is that it's easy to conceive of the Creator as being very engaged in
formulating the code of life as it evolves and becomes more sophisticated
through time.
Another consequence of thinking
like this is the notion that -- because the Creator has been working so hard on
Earth-life's genetic heritage for at least 3.85 billion years -- the genetic
code is worthy to be regarded by us humans as "sacred."
Moreover, why shouldn't we rejoice
at discovering that the Creator has placed each of us in a huge family of
mutually dependent members of a rainbow of races and species, all sharing a
huge percentage of the same life processes, feelings, potentials and
aspirations? And why shouldn't the most holy act of all be that of loving and
respecting all forms of life so intensely that you can't stand the idea of
destroying them needlessly?
*****
A SONG IN EVERY TREE
The other day Alex somewhere in
cyberspace wrote with regard to my short book "One Year in the Life of a
House Sparrow." He said that having had House Sparrows brought to his
attention, "... all of a sudden there is 'a bird on every corner, a song
in every tree.' If you don't allow for it, your mind doesn't register. People
don't expect sparrows to be fascinating, and thus ignore them."
Alex has discovered something important:
Human minds are wired so that we grow blind to everyday things. Maybe it's an
evolutionary defense against the fact that if we could see plainly how many
things can go wrong with our bodies, how tenuously society is held together,
and how fragile the planetary ecosystem is, we'd all go berserk.