Darwinian evolution - up there with the rainbow and the sign of the cross as reminders of God's love
Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose
and if you ever saw it
you would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
laughed at him and called him names.
They wouldn't let poor Rudolf
join in any reindeer games.
I have been struggling for months - ever since last Christmas in fact - to get this silly tune out of my head.
And yet it sticks with me because it contains a message at least as far as I'm concerned about how God loves his creation.
The most obvious meaning of the story '2012the one which Dean Martin was singing about in the original recording ' is of course that we shouldn't mock the afflicted. One day we'll see, that their difference is actually important for everyone, has a value we didn't anticipate; Indeed makes them different in an ennobling way, one that reverses our relationship with them. We all remember the words of the Psalm, usually applied to Jesus himself:
"Thestone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"
But there's more to it than that. This is actually a clear and detailed description of the process of natural selection by survival of the fittest. Scientists might say (if Rudolf was a real reindeer, not a mythical stereotype) that Rudolf suffers from a rare genetic condition that makes light-emitting particles accumulate at the end of his nose. This apparently puts him at a serious reproductive disadvantage, because nobody wants that kind of an oddball for a friend. But when Santa calls on him to lead the sleigh team on a foggy night, suddenly the situation changes dramatically. All at once, all of the other reindeer find they love Rudolf after all, and outdo one another in dishing out praises. Putting it crudely, now they all want to have his babies. It's much like the Hans Andersen story about the ugly duckling. Once you see the point of the difference, your perspective changes and you want some of the action. The passage from contempt to envy is the easy way to go; all you need is for someone to change the label on the object of interest.
I think the story of Rudolf is one in the eye for those who believe that the Bible says all the creatures on this earth were invented by God just as we see them today - fully rounded individuals belonging to preconceived species, with no defects and perfect bodies. Like creationism, Eugenics is another fundamentalist program, one that seeks to build perfect human specimens through selective breeding, which is the result of a huge misunderstanding of the evolutionary process. The reality is completely different. Evolution isn't purposeful. There aren't any Rudolfs in the real world, children! But all species are continually evolving - not in order to get closer to an ideal of perfection, but just changing, almost willy-nilly, as a result of little accidents of mis-copying of genetic information. And God doesn't just allow that haphazard process to happen, he encourages it; because through these random changes new forms can evolve, which are better adapted to changed conditions in the environment - changes that cannot be predicted. It sounds messy but in fact it's a model of real divine justice, which takes place, not in a cardboard world of preformed stereotypes, but in a state of preparedness for any eventuality. How does God decide who to reward? That's the deep question. He loves beauty, no doubt of that. But does He really want us to be perfect?
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
Rudolf with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?
Perhaps divine justice is a much subtler process than we realize. It depends on seeing the potential of apparent obstacles and instead making them the means to facilitate important change. When God wants a job done, he goes for the best equipped and best adapted. So we shouldn't be surprised that he is on the lookout for those who can see beyond the end of their own noses, in order to illuminate the way ahead and bring his message to the world. Goodness knows, there's enough fog around!
And yes, there are unexpected rewards, probably much more satisfying than going down in history, if truth be known. All of us have the potential, to turn from ugly ducklings into seductive swans. Like so many things, it's a matter of changing perspectives . . . ("Alec")
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