In my weekly Works & Wonders column, I combine a brief devotional with other interesting and uplifting bits and pieces I gleaned throughout the week. I hope you enjoy this week’s collection! It includes:
- Perfect Wisdom and Perfect Purposes
- Underground Mail
- The Most Valuable Items
- Insects Don’t Live in the Ocean
- The Return of the Monarch
- Singing Through the Hymnal
1.
Perfect Wisdom and Perfect Purposes
Wisdom is the right application of knowledge and, in God’s case, wisdom is the perfect application of perfect knowledge. Such an understanding of God’s wisdom ought to give us great comfort, for as J.I. Packer tells us, “Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.” God’s wisdom is not directed at mediocrity or second best. He does not mean to accomplish purposes that are just okay, merely good enough, or making the best of a bad situation. Rather, God’s perfect wisdom leads to the perfect attainment of perfect purposes. His wisdom is directed at accomplishing the absolute highest and best goals and accomplishing them through the absolute highest and best means. The consequence for us is that just as we can have confidence in God’s ends, we can have every bit as much confidence in his means, for it is through his wisdom that he enacts his goodness.
2.
Underground Mail
There was a time, and it was not so very long ago, when the world’s major cities began to move mail underground, through pneumatic tubes.
Twenty years ago, United States senator Ted Stevens drew long-lasting online ridicule by describing the internet as “a series of tubes.” While some commentators noted that the analogy wasn’t quite as outlandish as it seemed, most reacted with nothing more than amused bafflement. Where had Stevens come up with that image? Given that he was born in 1923, perhaps he was drawing on memories of a technological wonder of his childhood: the underground pneumatic systems through which mail was delivered in major American cities from the eighteen-nineties until the early nineteen-fifties.
That’s the theme of this article from Open Culture. It offers a couple of documentary videos if you’d like to see how it all worked and learn what came of it.
3.
The Most Valuable Items
I have always enjoyed watching The Antiques Roadshow. There is a lot to enjoy about it, but I think my greatest pleasure is watching the experts when they spot an item that is exceedingly rare or valuable. The Roadshow recently released a compilation of some of the most valuable items they’ve ever appraised, and I think the best part—better even than the surprise of the owners when they hear the value of their items—is the joy of the experts. It somehow always reminds me of the joy of the new Christian when he finds Christ and comes to love him as the best and most valuable thing in all the world. (Note: there are a few OMGs in the video.)
4.
Insects Don’t Live in the Ocean
Here’s an interesting fact: Though there are as many as six million species of insects on Earth, none of them inhabit the ocean. They crawl, fly, dig, and wiggle, but they don’t submerge themselves in seawater. Scientists assumed the reason was that an insect respiratory system could not handle the pressure that comes with depth. However, a deep-diving larva in East Africa is challenging that notion. These are not beautiful creatures (as you can see in this video), but they are perfectly designed for diving up to 650 feet beneath the surface. You can read about it at the Smithsonian.
5.
The Return of the Monarch
It is always a joy to see a monarch butterfly, but I don’t think I’m the only one to observe that they seem to have become less common over the years. This article from The Atlantic celebrates the humble but incredible monarch and details some of the efforts to preserve it.
The monarchs’ feats of navigation are enabled by their internal technology, a set of instinctual tools that in some ways surpasses our understanding. The butterflies’ eyes can sense the angle and intensity of different forms of light. In each antenna, a complex series of molecules maintains their circadian clock, which, when combined with sunlight cues, gives them their sense of direction.
When the sun is unreliable, monarchs have a secondary method of pathfinding— a biological compass that allows them to sense Earth’s magnetic field. Internal thermostats help govern the timing of their northward movements.
Of course, the article immediately ascribes this to evolution, but it’s still worth reading to celebrate the wonder of just one of God’s millions of creatures. (Note: there’s a bad word in a quote.)
6.
Singing Through the Hymnal
The Gettys are planning to sing their way through most of The Sing! Hymnal in the years to come. The recordings are going to be simple and beautiful, and in that way, easy to use for personal, family, or church settings. They’ve released the first of them, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” with many more to come. An album will follow later in the year.
