Our community looks forward each year to an airshow held to raise funds for the United Way. It's well attended in part because the Canadian forces Snowbirds are featured. Friends of ours live on farmland within sight of our small airport, so they kindly host a BBQ each year for friends and family to gather for a wonderful view of the planes as they perform their precision aerobatics overhead. This year I attended the BBQ and once the action began, I moved to the edge of the property to attempt some digital shots....you know....take 75 shots to get 3 good ones.
I snapped away and marvelled at the skill of these pilots. For nine pilots to fly wing-tip-to-wing-tip and be so precise in their manoevres...it always astounds me. My favourite move is when the planes fly towards each other at high speed, and though you are sure they will collide, they of course never do. I wonder just how much time and effort is involved in the mechanical work on the planes to ensure their safe operation, and the training of the pilots to learn their stuff so well.
As I leaned on the fence, the crew flew off into the blue, out of sight for many minutes as they regrouped. Something else caught my eye in the field and I turned to watch it. I had to smile. Because it was something that could boast far more flying precision and skill than the planes and their pilots....far more flexibility, agility, and ability, and didn't require refueling....didn't require a pilot.
A lowly dragonfly. It dived and swooped with great speed, then hovered before careening out of sight. Everyone's eyes were on the skies, searching for the airplanes....but here in a farmer's field was an aerobatic wonder that no one paid any attention to. And yet if truth were told....it was upstaging the entertainment by a longshot.
Hummingbirds are another tiny creature whose antics and abilities amaze me. No creation of a *man's hand can ever match these insects and birds that we often give no thought to.
How is it that we recognize the work of a *man's hand....we marvel at the awesomeness of his creations; his amazing abilities and skills and knowledge. We peer into the clouds, shielding our eyes from the sun as we strain to see men and women's skills displayed in the air. But did we miss seeing those clouds.....that sun....the trees....the breeze......the grass brimming with life above and below the soil, as countless insects, birds and animals far more complex than anything a man could ever create, fulfill their role in the chain of life? Why don't they amaze and astound us? Worse yet, could we believe that there is no intelligence, thought, or design behind their creation? Do the planets randomly align themselves in perfect, continuous order? Is it coincidence that the sun stays exactly where it needs to for this earth to survive? Could I believe that an airplane needs intelligence behind it to be created and function as planned... but an insect, bird, animal, human or universe does not....they just.....happened?
I'll never forget the Toronto Airshow we attended several years ago. The announcer excitedly shouted, "And now folks....here are......your CANADIAN SNOWBIRDS!!!!!" With no word of a lie, at that very moment, a flock of Canadian geese flew in formation across the waterfront in front of the thousands of spectators who erupted in applause at these true Canadian birds who gracefully displayed their elegance. No airplane can ever duplicate the natural ability and complexity of a bird.
For those who believe there is no God, I give them credit for their strength of belief. I could just never summon enough faith to become an atheist. I'm a stargazer and a birdwatcher.*man (mankind...includes women :-) )
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