Ken Van Dellen

Geologists have long been aware that some deposits are, indeed, laid down catastrophically. We do not, however, extrapolate from that and conclude that ALL deposits are catastrophic. Yes, during a volcanic eruption "laminae" may be laid down rapidly. Those are made of volcanic debris that is erupted explosively. This does not mean that similar layers of other materials were also laid down rapidly.

For example, mud that has been deposited in an environment where there is no evidence of turbulence or rapid flow of water, would not be deposited rapidly. Indeed, when water transports a variety of particle sizes at high velocity, the larger (heavier) particles settle out first, as the velocity decreases, with the finest particles settling out last, taking some time to deposit, even when the velocity is essentially zero. This is illustrated by Stoke's law. (Warning: most of us will get bogged down quickly, even catastrophically, once we get past the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article on this.)

Volcanic deposits of "cinders" and "ash" obey this law, too. Finer particles travel farther and settle more slowly. (This is a generalization. Various factors may affect the results.)

God governs and sustains his creation all of the time. Stoke's law illustrates one of the ways by which he normally operates, not capriciously and unpredictably. One God, in control of everything. We don't have to run around nailing things on trees to deal with the unknown.

My heart goes out to Mr. DeYoung. Some of those near and dear to me have disabilities so I can sympathize. Nevertheless, I would like to respectfully point out why I think this post is an excellent example of "good" and "not-good" in a church publication. It might have been useful to edit this item just a little before posting it. I think it's "good" to submit a list of features one might hope for in legislation; I think it's "not good" to attach that list to rumors, baseless accusations, and other such statements such as those in the first three paragraphs of this post, in a denominational magazine or website such as this.

This post begins with a vague "Multiple reports suggest..." and goes on to a derogatory comment about the President-elect well before the inauguration and follows that with an attack on Rep. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House. (Ryan was depicted in political ads a few years ago pushing grandma over a cliff in her wheelchair, but some view him as one who lives his Christian beliefs, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit.) This introduction concludes by questioning the morality of legislators in the early weeks of a new term for not providing evidence that legislation still being written will be completely satisfactory. This makes one wonder if it isn't just a tad politically oriented.

If we are going to have political statements here, perhaps we should seek some balance. Would the monitors consider a post that reported that, for the first time in history, a U.S. president spoke at the annual meeting of Planned Parenthood, leading abortion provider in the U.S. and dealer in body parts of aborted babies? This would be the same president who, as a state legislator stated that he trusted doctors performing abortions to provide necessary care for viable infants surviving abortions. These are doctors who believe a dead baby is the best solution to an unplanned pregnancy. As the adoptive father of two grown daughters, now the mothers of five terrific grandchildren, I beg to differ.