Fish are friends, not food
Coming back from lunch, I was in the elevator and about to step out onto my floor, when the screen on the mini television changed. It caught my eye.
Supposedly, it's shark week this week...? As a general rule when I was younger, all things permanently wet and ocean-related - sea, fish, coral, plankton - creeped me out. In fact, I have been noted to have said when I was newly 5, regarding my future occupation, "I wouldn't want to be a scooper-diver because I don't like scooper-diving; I like nurses." ...I have since overcome this unseemly distaste for bodies of salt water and its inhabitants (I still like nurses, but I'm not going to be one). In fact, the world of underwater is somewhat of a fascination to me now. So the mini-TV had my attention.
A random shark fact popped up declaring the size range of these fish. A pygmy shark is the smallest, coming in at about 4 inches. And the largest shark can reach up to 50 feet or more. 50 feet! Well, I had to know just how long 50 feet actually was. (I'm not too good at spatial visualization. By the way, try saying that two times fast.) So I got to my desk, and immediately asked my neighbor cube-indweller if she was any good at estimating lengths and if she knew what 50 feet would look like in our office space. She replied, "Propably like 50 feet anywhere else." Ha. Ha.
So I turned and asked another co-worker if she knew what 50 feet would equal in terms of our office. She started speculating. "Well, Mike is about 6 feet..." So we both marched over to his office (he's one of the head-honchos) and asked him to stand up (well, I asked if he would be so kind as to lie down head to toe across the floor of our department so we could measure something out, but he declined, stating he felt vulnerable while laying down). He stood up. Well, that didn't help me one bit. I still had to try and visualize the full extent of the length - I wanted something a bit more concrete. So I looked at our cubicles. We have four in a row and each are about 8 feet wide. So I deduced (using my brilliant detective skills) that 50 feet was longer than the length of the set of cubicles - and still longer even if we would've had another cubicle on the end! (Basically, 50 feet is really long!)
By that time, the three that I had involved in this snowballing account, and others observing the hoopla from afar, were wondering what on earth I wanted to know the length of 50 feet for - and they were not vocalizing this query all too quietly. I tried to skirt the question, suddenly feeling quite inane. Well, there was no avoiding the interogation. So I ducked my head and said rather sheepishly, "I--I just wanted to know how big the biggest shark is..."
They looked at me quizzically and then laughed. Then we went and googled "Great White Shark" - which is what grows to such lengths.
Looking at the pictures, and having 'set' the distance in my mind of just how large one of those can get, the sense of awe overwhelmed me as I tried to imagine the immensity of this great creature, swimming around in an even larger ocean. And then as I contemplated the awesomeness of its Creator.
It made me think of Psalm 95. It says "In His hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand..."
I love the contrast of the greatness, hugeness, omnipotence of God, and yet, the intimate portrayal of us being the sheep of His hand (where it was just said are containing - and upholding - the depths and heights themselves). How comforting to see that He who created the sea and dry land, and the vast terrain of the earth is--our God!
He made the enormity of the ocean, and filled it with teeming life. To think that this enormous fish was created to bring God glory - may it do just that. Yes! Let's worship and bow down - let us kneel before the LORD!
Supposedly, it's shark week this week...? As a general rule when I was younger, all things permanently wet and ocean-related - sea, fish, coral, plankton - creeped me out. In fact, I have been noted to have said when I was newly 5, regarding my future occupation, "I wouldn't want to be a scooper-diver because I don't like scooper-diving; I like nurses." ...I have since overcome this unseemly distaste for bodies of salt water and its inhabitants (I still like nurses, but I'm not going to be one). In fact, the world of underwater is somewhat of a fascination to me now. So the mini-TV had my attention.
A random shark fact popped up declaring the size range of these fish. A pygmy shark is the smallest, coming in at about 4 inches. And the largest shark can reach up to 50 feet or more. 50 feet! Well, I had to know just how long 50 feet actually was. (I'm not too good at spatial visualization. By the way, try saying that two times fast.) So I got to my desk, and immediately asked my neighbor cube-indweller if she was any good at estimating lengths and if she knew what 50 feet would look like in our office space. She replied, "Propably like 50 feet anywhere else." Ha. Ha.
So I turned and asked another co-worker if she knew what 50 feet would equal in terms of our office. She started speculating. "Well, Mike is about 6 feet..." So we both marched over to his office (he's one of the head-honchos) and asked him to stand up (well, I asked if he would be so kind as to lie down head to toe across the floor of our department so we could measure something out, but he declined, stating he felt vulnerable while laying down). He stood up. Well, that didn't help me one bit. I still had to try and visualize the full extent of the length - I wanted something a bit more concrete. So I looked at our cubicles. We have four in a row and each are about 8 feet wide. So I deduced (using my brilliant detective skills) that 50 feet was longer than the length of the set of cubicles - and still longer even if we would've had another cubicle on the end! (Basically, 50 feet is really long!)
By that time, the three that I had involved in this snowballing account, and others observing the hoopla from afar, were wondering what on earth I wanted to know the length of 50 feet for - and they were not vocalizing this query all too quietly. I tried to skirt the question, suddenly feeling quite inane. Well, there was no avoiding the interogation. So I ducked my head and said rather sheepishly, "I--I just wanted to know how big the biggest shark is..."
They looked at me quizzically and then laughed. Then we went and googled "Great White Shark" - which is what grows to such lengths.
Looking at the pictures, and having 'set' the distance in my mind of just how large one of those can get, the sense of awe overwhelmed me as I tried to imagine the immensity of this great creature, swimming around in an even larger ocean. And then as I contemplated the awesomeness of its Creator.
It made me think of Psalm 95. It says "In His hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand..."
I love the contrast of the greatness, hugeness, omnipotence of God, and yet, the intimate portrayal of us being the sheep of His hand (where it was just said are containing - and upholding - the depths and heights themselves). How comforting to see that He who created the sea and dry land, and the vast terrain of the earth is--our God!
He made the enormity of the ocean, and filled it with teeming life. To think that this enormous fish was created to bring God glory - may it do just that. Yes! Let's worship and bow down - let us kneel before the LORD!
posted by Jennifer at 3:18 PM
6 Comments:
You know, they (‘they’ being my friend Hen) say that once two individuals of the opposing genders have a “shark conversation,” or one pertaining in the slightest peripheral association with sharks, the relationship is definitely showing positive development and an increase in intimacy. I’m sure there have been studies…
So, would you say this is a..."shark" gray?
A helpful hint from a fellow cube dweller: Using ceiling tiles is an excellent way to estimate distance.
Oooo - brilliant! never thought of that - I'll be sure to use that one next time.
My co-workers have come to expect a "spatial" question everyday... I try not to disappoint.
Ya know... I got think'n about how long a 50 foot shark really is... that's pretty stinking big, like... really really big.
by the way, it's shark week on the Discovery Channel
I know - it's pretty much huge!!! When you just think of 50 feet off-hand you're like, eh, 50 feet. Ok.
But if you do think of it in actual terms - aah! Humongo. And there's more than one! And they're swimming around the massive ocean as we...blog.
On Discovery Channel - yes. Bight University. Ha-ha.
Hahaha...
Well yea, I can't say Discovery Channel is prime choice. It's like choosing Fuller Seminary over Masters Seminary. Or even like choosing to go to Saddleback over choosing Bethelehem Baptist. So, I was flipping channels (yea I know, no excuse).
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