Today’s Scripture Reading (June 27,
2016): Psalm 148
Challenger
Deep is the deepest part of the ocean. Well, at least it is the deepest point of
the ocean of which we are aware. The hole in the bottom of the ocean is almost
eleven kilometers (or seven miles) below the ocean’s surface and it is located
near the south end of the Mariana Trench – and just south of the Island of Guam.
The pressure on whatever it is that exists there is 1000 times what it is on someone at sea level. Even the volume
of the sea at that depth is compressed, occupying only 95% of the space there
than it would occupy just below the ocean’s surface. James Cameron graphically
describes what would happen to a person at that depth. Just before Cameron took
a submersible down into Challenger Deep, he said that if the submersible were
to fail at that depth, all that would be left of him would be “meat soup.”
Maybe not the most appetizing description.
In
Challenger Deep, there is no light. The temperature of the water hovers between
1 and 4o C. And the question that has been asked ever since the
discovery and survey of Challenger Deep by the survey ship HMS Challenger late
in the 19th Century is simply this, at that depth and under those
conditions, can any kind of life survive?
The answer
is yes. James Cameron says that he didn’t see any living creatures more than an
inch long and that the only free swimmer
he saw were small amphipods, but even these are evidence of life in what might
be one of the most uninhabitable places on the planet. Along with these small
creatures, there is also a host of microbes that are alive and well at the
bottom of Challenger Deep. In 1960, Lt Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard thought
they saw some sort of flatfish when they made the first manned attempt to
descend to the bottom of Challenger Deep aboard the Trieste, but experts have
questioned the sighting believing that what they actually saw was a Sea
Cucumber. But even a Sea Cucumber is an astonishing find at that depth.
The psalmist
had no idea of the existence of Challenger Deep or even of the Mariana Trench. He
had no conception of how deep the oceans were or of how high the sky might be.
He couldn’t have described the conditions, or what life might look like at such
depth. Sometimes our nightmares consist of vast beasts roaming around the
depths of the ocean, but the truth is that at the very deepest parts of the
ocean, under great pressure, cold, and with no light, it is often only the
smallest creatures that can survive.
But none of
this stopped the faith of the psalmist that wherever the oceans might end, God
had populated it with life. From the deepest part of the ocean to the highest
height, there God’s creation would be found. It is a statement of great faith
that the psalmist places in the creative abilities of his God.
(And on a
side note, if God can create life that exists in Challenger Deep, is extraterrestrial
life at the highest heights really that much of a stretch of our imagination –
or of our faith?)
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
149 & 150
Personal Note: Happy Anniversary to
my Mom and Dad.
No comments:
Post a Comment