A paleontologist, by any other name, still eats meatballs...

I've had several people ask now, including a host of AOL members, and Brother Jonathan and AnnieElf... the name "Autrice delDrago" is, of course, just my pen name. "Autrice" means historian, and "Drago" is what some of the Italians up here call dinosaurs (go figure). So, as I love paleontology, my pen-name is a poorly constructed pun on "Dinosaur Historian". Or perhaps I translated it wrong, and the phrase actually means "Give me a meatball."

Oh my goodness gracious! How can I possibly have interest in field that seems to smack of evolution? Look at it this way - God created things. He created lemurs and porcupines, cheetahs and chimps, and man. He created chicken, too. In the beginning, it wasn't chicken - it was smaller, meaner, and could jump farther than the length of your car. And He saw that it was cute. And then He decided to create man, who would grow to love chicken, so He went back, tinkered with His design, and made the chicken less jumpy, more tasty, and much easier to keep in coops.

I do not think it is a sin to believe that dinosaurs walked this earth. I do believe it is a downright shame when people insist on trying to limit God's intelligence. He is a Powerful God, a wonderful God, and a God that doesn't seem to take well to being toyed with (see Old Testament!) He is also a merciful God (see New Testament), and if He saw that the only way for us to be in Heaven was for Him to take our sins upon Himself - by becoming man and living as a human, thereby also fulfilling His covenant with old Abraham - then why is it so hard to grasp that perhaps He also put a lot of thought into this whole "Creation" thing? Who is to say how long one day is to a God who is eternal? Besides, any old being can poof things into existence.

Many ancient tales speak of gods who created things on a whim. I prefer to think of my God as having a sense of purpose, of thinking things through. Why start with a tree when you can start with a seed? And why start with a seed when you can start with an enzyme? How does it fit together? How will it continue to fit together as time passes? Consider, if you will, the miracle of birth. We are formed in our mother's womb, a soul merged with a body. Before we are formed, God knows our soul. He knows how many toes our body will have, and what color our eyes will be. Each body part can be broken down into general things, such as organs, muscles, fat etcetera. Each of those can be broken down into specific cells. Each cell can be viewed as something that holds our DNA. Beyond the general DNA coil, we see even more wonderment. But, all of it adds up to be a vessel that contains our soul. So too, does nature break down, each part fitting together to complete the whole of life on our planet. That took planning and some creative thought. Would God create using evolution? It is just a theory after all (like the Theory of Gravity!) Is it "Intelligent Design", another theory? Perhaps we will never know.

As for me? When I die, I'm going to ask God for one small favor. I do not want a heavenly mansion, or a crown. I'm going to ask Him if He would be so kind as to show me a dinosaur... a velociraptor, which is one of my favorites of all His creations, if He doesn't mind. I'm sure it was a beautiful creature, as He created it to be.