Wonders of Nature (in the Inquisitive Sense)

A couple of years ago, a friend and I were leaving a social event at one of those generic, "one-size-fits-all" churches he frequented. While going back to the car, this friend-a tender-hearted gentleman-just happened to squash a bug underfoot, thus breaking his own Golden Rule, to "do no harm to the harmless."

To ease his feelings, I reminded him that he probably saved it from a fate worse than death in its own underworld, as we'd seen in magazines and on TV. A larger bug would have dragged it and dismembered it to feed its young, or even worse yet, laid eggs under its skin, thus establishing a living incubator and "slow food restaurant" for its next generation. Accordingly, we saw that Mother Nature wrote the book on chemical warfare, atrocities, disguise and entrapment.

I should think that a military strategist could learn all the dirty tricks he'd ever need just by watching the Discovery Channel. It's a bizarre horror show, even by Hollywood standards.

We acknowledge Mother Nature's Jekyll and Hyde personality. Mindful of the fact that one side does not cancel out the other. The primitive beauty of a tropical jungle is only surpassed by the ugliness of what is really going on at close range. There is nothing in "show biz" to equal the spectacle, both good and bad. But in view of all the violence, I needled him that maybe Mother Nature is really Father Nature, and if God were a female, wouldn't it be a kinder, gentler world? (Though I don't believe so, in accordance with the ancient and recent history of female villains. I guess he was too tired for one of our verbal duels because his answer was a sidelong glance and a smirk.

Mind you, I'm grateful for my own place on the food chain, such as it is. But in a perfect world, we should all live on air instead of on each other, and one must wonder why wasn't there a better plan? If the Supreme Geneticist meant for us to be a work in progress, the progress is lagging and there's much work to be done.

It's a haunting, mind-blowing subject, and I guess such discussions are best left to philosophers, poets, scientists and saints. I'll wish them luck in this endless debate, and if they ever make sense of it, maybe someone will e-mail me in the next world at "twilight zone.com."