One of the kids suggested that we watch, or re-watch, one of the films in the Jurassic World series. Someone here found a relatively new Jurassic World short film (posted below), and suddenly most of us are on a renewed full fledge dinosaur kick.
This reflection is not meant to be about the gross inaccuracies of the dinosaur timeline, DNA recombination, and more. The films are Hollywood fun and for the most part highly entertaining. They do make me think, some…
All of the films force you to renew the wonder of what it would be like to walk among these living monsters. The short film especially seems to somewhat realistically attempt to portray dinosaurs as a part of contemporary society.
I think, if Dinosaurs really did come later, or last long enough to somehow share the earth with humans, they certainly would not be threatening our current camp-outs and roadways. Assuredly, we would have wiped them out long ago, probably by 1800. The large and most dangerous ones would have been taken out, maybe led off cliffs like the great Buffalo Jumps created by the Native Americans. We would gradually weaken their ability to thrive through intentional and unintentional encroachment on their habitat. A few hundred years later, the last of the small chicken-like species in the far reaches of the jungles would have been eliminated on the grounds of being technically dangerous, or hunted for game and the satisfaction of “bagging a monster.”
I’ve been warned by real live historians to resist the urge to judge historical figures, or really anyone of a different era, by modern standards. So I will not come to conclusions here about what rotten stewards we have been**. But I think the consideration, for now, should be how we can get more people to even think about good stewardship in this time where everything is, or becomes, automatically highjacked into a politically charged issue.
I think there are answers out there. But they require a lot of awareness, ingenuity, and like everything else, plain old sacrifice. I don’t think that we were ever meant to “have it all.” Not as a species, and especially not as individuals.
**I once had a patient who was a fascinating elderly geology professor. He formerly taught at both state- and private colleges, and he collected fossils, arrowheads, and minerals since he was eight. I visited he and his wife at home once, and he STILL grew animated showing me his smallish house literally packed with tidy and professional case displays.
Once at the office, he explained to me how he was often requested to give two talks. The presentations were titled with “environmentalism” or “good stewardship” depending on the audience. But they were the same talk, and very well received by both audiences, so long as he used their preferred vernacular.
Man is a finnicky species, for sure.
Lord, save us, indeed.
Bonny Lane Club 