Dreams and aspirations in our lives are often the catalysts that lead to great accomplishments that benefit the world in which we live. -Walter R. Hoge, DVM, and author of McEaster Valley.

This unique and earthy tale is reminiscent to William P. Young's The Shack, in that it was written to the authors' children and that it serves as a parable that there is more to life than glitter and gold and that sometimes, the places where we get lost are exactly where we need to be. What distinguishes Hoge's fable is that it excites the imagination and conjures wonderment in the natural world in all its simple complexities. Whatever it is Hoge found in McEaster Valley, he shares with his readers this: If we respect the community in which we live, take care of our planet, and learn more about its nature, it may well yield clues that will help us live healthier, happier lives.

God-shaped hole suggests that every person has an emptiness in their soul or spirit that only God can fill. This idea is rooted in the innate longing of the human heart for something transcendent, something beyond itself. As stated in Ecclesiastes 3:11, God has placed eternity in man's heart, and only God can satisfy this desire for eternity. Many people spend their lives trying to fill this void with temporary pursuits-such as work, family, or hobbies- but find these efforts ultimately unfulfilling. Even those who achieve worldly success, like Solomon, find that these pursuits do not satisfy the deeper longing for eternity and call it vanity. The question then arises: if we have free will, why do we not choose God? Some, like St. Augustine and Robert Sapolsky, argue that our choices are constrained by our nature, questioning if true free will exists at all.

It is a common theme in many books and films: when people get lost in a desert or a jungle and try to walk in a -straight line, they end up walking in circles. No matter how hard they try, at some point they will cross their own tracks and despair, because they realize that they will never make it back to civilization. Surprisingly enough, the belief that people walk in circles when lost is mainly based on anecdotal evidence and has never been studied systematically in a real desert or forest.

Scientists have now presented the -first empirical evidence that people can't walk in a straight line and really do walk in circles when they do not have reliable cues to their walking direction.

It turned out that these circles were rarely in a systematic direction. Instead, the same person sometimes veered to the left, sometimes to the right. Walking in circles is therefore not caused by differences in leg length or strength, but more likely the result of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is.

Thinking about walking in circles and trying to walk a straight line-even with all the volumes of information we have accumulated about how life began we still - nd ourselves getting lost and turning in circles trying to solve one of sciences greatest outstanding mysteries. Even the individual pathways in metabolism are intricate. It is hard to imagine how such an intricate process could have started by itself.

Complicating things further, each step is controlled by a molecule called an enzyme, which speeds up the chemical reactions in question. Enzymes are complicated molecules that can only be made through metabolism, under the control of genes.

So, scientists face a biochemical chicken-or-the-egg dilemma: Which came -first, the chemical engine to build the cell, or the cellular mechanisms needed to build the engine?

In the quest for -finding certainty in our pursuit for truth and understanding, it seems to me good council to consider what is written in 1Kings 19:11012. The Lord is not found in the strong winds, disasters, earthquakes or fire. After all is done, His answer will be found in -a still small voice.

Dreams and aspirations in our lives are often the catalysts that lead to great accomplishments that benefit the world in which we live. -Walter R. Hoge, DVM, and author of McEaster Valley.



This unique and earthy tale is reminiscent to William P. Young's The Shack, in that it was written to the authors' children and that it serves as a parable that there is more to life than glitter and gold and that sometimes, the places where we get lost are exactly where we need to be. What distinguishes Hoge's fable is that it excites the imagination and conjures wonderment in the natural world in all its simple complexities. Whatever it is Hoge found in McEaster Valley, he shares with his readers this: If we respect the community in which we live, take care of our planet, and learn more about its nature, it may well yield clues that will help us live healthier, happier lives.

It is a common theme in many books and films: when people get lost in a desert or a jungle and try to walk in a -straight line, they end up walking in circles. No matter how hard they try, at some point they will cross their own tracks and despair, because they realize that they will never make it back to civilization. Surprisingly enough, the belief that people walk in circles when lost is mainly based on anecdotal evidence and has never been studied systematically in a real desert or forest.

Scientists have now presented the -first empirical evidence that people can't walk in a straight line and really do walk in circles when they do not have reliable cues to their walking direction.

It turned out that these circles were rarely in a systematic direction. Instead, the same person sometimes veered to the left, sometimes to the right. Walking in circles is therefore not caused by differences in leg length or strength, but more likely the result of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is.

Thinking about walking in circles and trying to walk a straight line-even with all the volumes of information we have accumulated about how life began we still - nd ourselves getting lost and turning in circles trying to solve one of sciences greatest outstanding mysteries. Even the individual pathways in metabolism are intricate. It is hard to imagine how such an intricate process could have started by itself.

Complicating things further, each step is controlled by a molecule called an enzyme, which speeds up the chemical reactions in question. Enzymes are complicated molecules that can only be made through metabolism, under the control of genes.

So, scientists face a biochemical chicken-or-the-egg dilemma: Which came -first, the chemical engine to build the cell, or the cellular mechanisms needed to build the engine?

In the quest for -finding certainty in our pursuit for truth and understanding, it seems to me good council to consider what is written in 1Kings 19:11012. The Lord is not found in the strong winds, disasters, earthquakes or fire. After all is done, His answer will be found in -a still small voice.

In 1952 Stanley L. Miller carried out the Miller-Urey experiment which showed that complex organic molecules could be synthesized from inorganic compounds. This discovery gave a huge boost to the scientific investigation of the origin of life. Indeed, for some time it seemed like the creation of life in a test tube was within reach of experimental science. This God-like discovery had a strong influence on the atmosphere in science classes I attended in the 60's. Over the centuries nature and man through natural and man's selection have changed the appearance and productivity of plant and animal life. The life we observe today is much different than seen by earlier civilizations. The laws of natural selection, survival of the fittest and genetic material placed into plant and animal genomes from infections by viruses and bacteria over the eons of time have ensured that the evolution of living matter is a continuing dynamic force. Modern research is also changing life on our world by removing or splicing genetic material in living organisms. These efforts have made it possible to increase food production and nutritional value as well as help prevent or control inherited human diseases.

We have come a long way since Stanley Miller's experiment creating organic building blocks that make up the temporal bodies of the plant and animal kingdom. However, man has never created a living organism from basic matter that makes up the earth and given it the spark of life and the ability to regenerate itself. The only documented place I've found where a living organism has been created that could reproduce others of its kind is in Gen 2:7 then the Lord God formed (that is, created the body of a) man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being (an individual complete in body and spirit). And, it appears that He also breathed life into the plants and animals. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity of being able to touch some of God's creations during my lifetime and can't wait for the day when I may meet with Him and ask, Just how did you do that?

In 1952 Stanley L. Miller carried out the Miller-Urey experiment which showed that complex organic molecules could be synthesized from inorganic compounds. This discovery gave a huge boost to the scientific investigation of the origin of life. Indeed, for some time it seemed like the creation of life in a test tube was within reach of experimental science. This God-like discovery had a strong influence on the atmosphere in science classes I attended in the 60's. Over the centuries nature and man through natural and man's selection have changed the appearance and productivity of plant and animal life. The life we observe today is much different than seen by earlier civilizations. The laws of natural selection, survival of the fittest and genetic material placed into plant and animal genomes from infections by viruses and bacteria over the eons of time have ensured that the evolution of living matter is a continuing dynamic force. Modern research is also changing life on our world by removing or splicing genetic material in living organisms. These efforts have made it possible to increase food production and nutritional value as well as help prevent or control inherited human diseases.

We have come a long way since Stanley Miller's experiment creating organic building blocks that make up the temporal bodies of the plant and animal kingdom. However, man has never created a living organism from basic matter that makes up the earth and given it the spark of life and the ability to regenerate itself. The only documented place I've found where a living organism has been created that could reproduce others of its kind is in Gen 2:7 then the Lord God formed (that is, created the body of a) man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being (an individual complete in body and spirit). And, it appears that He also breathed life into the plants and animals. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity of being able to touch some of God's creations during my lifetime and can't wait for the day when I may meet with Him and ask, Just how did you do that?

God-shaped hole suggests that every person has an emptiness in their soul or spirit that only God can fill. This idea is rooted in the innate longing of the human heart for something transcendent, something beyond itself. As stated in Ecclesiastes 3:11, God has placed eternity in man's heart, and only God can satisfy this desire for eternity. Many people spend their lives trying to fill this void with temporary pursuits-such as work, family, or hobbies- but find these efforts ultimately unfulfilling. Even those who achieve worldly success, like Solomon, find that these pursuits do not satisfy the deeper longing for eternity and call it vanity. The question then arises: if we have free will, why do we not choose God? Some, like St. Augustine and Robert Sapolsky, argue that our choices are constrained by our nature, questioning if true free will exists at all.