Charlie’s father was a physician
and considered quite an influential man. His three hundred and fifty pound
stature made him an imposing figure. He liked to command the household.
Charlie’s mother died when he was
but eight years of age. He loved his mother and grief overwhelmed the little
boy.
Charlie loved the outdoors. He
loved to hunt and was fascinated by nature. But his father thought Charlie was becoming worthless in his
nature pursuits. He wanted his son to be a doctor, like himself. So, Charlie
reluctantly went to school to study medicine. He immediately realized that he
did not have the stomach for surgery. He was too sensitive to watch people
suffer. He quit school.
Charlie’s dad then told him to
study theology, assuring him he didn’t really need to believe what was taught,
and that he could have good status in society as a clergyman. Charlie obeyed
again, but now he was in his early twenties and found partying, cards and girls
a priority over studies. He fell in love with a beautiful girl. He finally did
graduate, barely, with a theology degree.
At this point, Charlie was getting
tired of trying to please his father. He wanted to pursue his love of the
outdoors. After having a relative convince his dad it was okay for him to
follow his dream, Charlie started living that dream of studying nature full
time. This meant going overseas for a period of time. He was concerned about
losing the girl he had fallen in love with, but she assured him that she would
wait for his return so they could continue toward marriage. All of the stars
seemed to have aligned for Charlie, and life was looking very good.
Not long after Charlie had been
gone, he received a “Dear John” letter from his girlfriend. She had decided to
marry someone else. He was crushed.
Charlie threw himself into his work
and did fabulous research. It was the only thing that could take his mine off
of the heartbreak. He returned home at the age of twenty-seven.
At the age of thirty, after careful
analysis of the pros and cons of marriage, Charlie decided it was time for him
to find a wife. He married a cousin who also came from a wealthy family. She
was a Christian. Charlie had become doubtful in the validity of the Bible, and
thus Christianity. He and his wife loved each other, but this difference caused
tension in their relationship. Some thought that their faith conflict might
have had an impact on Charlie’s health.
The two had many children. As is
often the case, dad had a favorite. Her name was Anne Elizabeth. She and
Charlie were inseparable. Their love for each other was immense, until Anne
Elizabeth got sick and died at the age of ten. Charlie was crushed again. He
became very angry with God, and at this point in his life totally rejected
Christianity. In his grief, he again threw himself into his work. But this
time, he could only focus on work for about three hours a day.
Charlie’s research took him further
from Christianity. His health, mental and physical, suffered. When he heard of
another researcher prepared to disclose findings nearly identical to his, he
snapped out of the doldrums and completed his book describing his theory. After
all, he wanted credit for the research to which he had dedicated his life.
At the age of fifty, Charles Darwin
published The Origin of Species. It is not hard to understand why he took the
perspective he chose. He had an overbearing, somewhat know-it-all bully of a
dad whose approval he struggled to receive. His first love broke his heart. The
men he travelled with during the years he did his research mocked his faith. His
daughter, the apple of his eye, Anne Elizabeth, contracted an illness that
killed her. He wondered if his weak constitution had contributed to her death. He
felt guilty, and it fit part of the theory he was proposing to the world.
I wonder how Charles’s theory would
have read if he had not lost his mother at the tender age of eight, if he had a
more loving father, a successful first love relationship, less criticism from
peers, and had he not lost his precious daughter to a cruel illness. Had he not
abandoned his faith in anger, and had someone there to help him through his
hardships, I wonder if he would have seen more of the beauty of creation,
rather than the darkness of natural selection and survival of the fittest.
As for me, while I always admired
nature, I never saw the full beauty of creation until God opened my eyes during
a journey of personal hardship. I finally allowed God back into my life. When I
called out, he answered me. My life was never again the same. My belief in
creation became every bit as strong and logical as Charles Darwin’s belief in
The Origin of Species.
