Great Garbage Patch
Recently as I was painting one of the bathrooms in my house, I learned
that over seven million tons of plastic is spanning our oceans. A
vortex--gyre--of marine litter. No joke. Apparently "the existence of
plastic in the oceans is causing infertility." Considering my feet have dabbled in ocean waters (hmm, does the gulf of Mexico count?) twice since I got
married almost seventeen years ago and since I have five children,
it's obvious the plastic-infected waters have not sterilized my womb. Of
course, I could merely be an anomaly.
Could be or could not be an anomaly, that is the question of which
I'd need at least half a day to ponder.
Anyhoo, this Great Pacific Garbage Patch spans "the
size of Texas." Texas!?! I've been to Texas. It's huge-er than huge
and that's not just the hair on the women. (On a side note, I read the other
day that you might be a redneck if your stock portfolio consists of two sheep
and a goat.) Get this: Imagine Texas-size trash heap floating
aimlessly amid all those adorable human-eating sea critters....
Oh. My. Satellite Dishes. Poor SpongeBob and Patrick.
Well, I couldn't ignore this dreadful news so I googled for some
pictures to show y'all. Only I couldn't find any. Oh, I found
YouTube videos, even one from a news segment from a national network morning
show, but no actual pictures of the vortex so I'm limited to showing you this
diagram. Dreadful isn't it?
My mind is swimming . . . I mean, spinning. But what's even more
dreadful is the fact no one has pictures of this ginormous garbage. In this
crazy day and electronic age when everyone but me has a mobile phone, surely
someone with the time could mosey on out to that plastic-filled gyre and take a
pic. I want a pic. While in labor with child #5, I suffered through six hours
of the Anna Nicole burial trial. I freakin' deserve a pic!
Sadly, it's impossible to take a picture of this watery trash.
Why? Experts say, "Since plastics break down to ever smaller polymers,
concentrations of submerged particles are not visible from space, nor do they
appear as a continuous debris field. Instead, the patch is defined as an area
in which the mass of plastic debris in the upper water column is significantly
higher than average."
So, in other less scientificky words, the reason for no pictures
is because "[the garbage patch] is [a] huge pile of trash collectively,
but trash so small individually that the patch doesn’t show up."
Oh.
If I understand correctly it's like air: unseeable, untouchable, untasteable,
made up of bajillions of oxygen atoms that are so utterly small that we can see
them even though we can breathe them. Obviously since I need oxygen
to survive and since I'm still breathing, then, ergo, air
does exist. Ergo, the Garbage Patch of the Great Pacific and other oceans
exists.
Can you hear me sighing?
Oh dear. I just typed five exclamation points. Perhaps I'm being a
tad dramatic.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth
was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of
God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be
light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he
separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and
the darkness "night." And evening passed and morning came, marking
the first day. ~Genesis 1:1-4
For many people, the problem with faith is the fact that faith
doesn't prove God exists. You know, faith doesn't prove that "in the
beginning," God created anything. The age-old faith issue. Does He or
doesn't He. In my less-thn-forty-years-lifetime, I've learned that anyone who
doesn't believe in God says those who do are narrow-minded. Well, to me,
narrow-minded signals an unwillingness to consider other possibilities than
what we believe.
I believe God exists and that He created the heavens, the earth,
and all things in and around them in six literal 24-hour days. I'd go to
my death for that belief. However, I'm also willing to honestly listen to
someone explain to me why He doesn't and He didn't.
If you don't believe God exists or that He created what the Bible
said He created...well, are you honestly willing to listen to someone explain
why s/he believes God does and did create everything? Or are you going to be
narrow-minded and insist you're right and no other truth can possibly exist?
Does God exist?
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who
comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.” ~Hebrews 11:6
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