We have all heard of the phrase “mother nature.” “Mother nature just has a way of doing things.” “That’s mother nature causing the hurricane and getting back at us for treating the world poorly.” In these phrases, you know what we did? We give mother nature a human quality. A mother, as if it is alive and has consciousness. And often, but not always, it implies care.

We also hear it when we talk about the history of life on this Earth:

• Q: “Why do these bears have thick fur and these don’t?”
• A: “Because nature, over thousands and thousands of years of evolution, guided those in cold weather to have thick fur.”
• Q: “Why do these birds have exceptionally advanced eyes while others don’t?”
• A: “Because otherwise they would be extinct. Their harsh environments, with all its predators, needed them to have such eyes.”

You see a big issue with all these answers? How did mother nature get consciousness? And how is it making decisions? And if it’s not mother nature, surely it’s not the animals or plants making decisions, right? Did they get to decide in the belly of their mothers what new traits to have? Or that in 10,000 years, one of their descendants will get special furs or eyes to increase their chances of survival?

Or was it just by chance that certain species got lucky with the right mutations? Did one or two animals from each species just get lucky and survive? But more questions! Let’s say it’s not just about survival. We’re going to say some animals just got longer necks because it made it easier for them to reach the trees for food? And then who decided that trait would carry on?

We may be able to give some responses to each of these questions, but at the end of the day, don’t all these theories sound like fairy tales? Why work so hard to make these convoluted stories full of logical flaws, rather than consider the simple possibility that a Higher Being is behind it all? Instead of mother nature, maybe, just maybe, it’s God?