The Cheetah

Fastest land mammal on the face of the earth. Possessing the ability to accelerate from zero to 40 miles per hour in just three strides, and reach 70 miles per hour in seconds. At full speed, cheetahs can cover 20 to 25 feet in a single stride. How is it that this creature can reach such phenomenal speeds?

The answer is incredibly simple. They were made in a special way.

The anatomy of a cheetah is really quite incredible. Looking at a cheetah’s eyes, we learn that they are positioned to provide the animal with maximum binocular vision. Also, the retinal fovea of it’s eye is an elongated shape, giving the animal a very sharp, wide-angle view.

The cheetah’s spine is entirely flexible giving it full range to curve up and down, allowing the hip and shoulder girdles to swivel freely. This free running motion permits the cheetah to bring its hind legs all the way forward past its front legs in mid-stride.

Believe it or not, the cheetah would be destitute without it’s tail. The tail acts as a rudder stabilizing the cheetah while running, counteracting its body weight and preventing it from rolling over and spinning out on high-speed turns.

Moving on to the paws, we see that the cheetah is the only cat with non-retractable claws. This basically provides them with the world’s best-known pair of cleats, which would come in handy when making a sharp turn at 70 mph. 

Finally a cheetah’s respiratory rate climbs from 60 to upwards of 200 breaths per minute while running at full speed. In fact, a cheetah has to rest after a very short period of full speed running or it can damage its brain. Amazingly, the cheetah was provided with an enlarged heart, liver, and arteries giving it the ability to keep from passing out while chasing down dinner at warp speed.

It's a good thing that when the big bang started the world millions of years ago that this single particular creature was randomly given these single, particular, minute features so that it could survive.

Yeah...right.

The cheetah is one of many creatures that virtually sings of a creator. Praise God for His Omniscience in creating all creatures with the exact characteristics they need in order to live!

Interview

      I recently interviewed Timothy Mielke, owner of Mielke Way Photography, and campus photographer for both Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Maranatha Baptist University, in order to gain a professional opinion on whether or not an individual can use photography to impact our society and portray personal religious beliefs. Pulling the two main questions from the interview that pertain to this particular question, I've included two of his responses in Q and A form: 

1. Q: Do you feel that photography can be an effective way to communicate with other people online? 

  
 A: The visual medium of photography is very powerful in telling what words cannot. For example, nobody reads an article without first being drawn in by the photograph. Our culture has become media orientated and saturated in visual communication. Unfortunately there is a lot of poor visual communicating out there too. I believe there has never been a better time to communicate the proper message effectively with pictures and design. 


2. Q: Do you believe photography can be used to witness to others? Have you attempted this in your photography before? 

    A: I have done photography for friends who could not pay for my services as a way to reach out and build a trust relationship. In my classes, I used the example of the human eye being much more complex than the camera and the lens. You cannot tell me that we evolved from what was at one time pond scum. This leads to the belief that God created human life and loves us very much. In addition a loving, all powerful creator leads us to see how we are dependent on Him for everything in our life, from the very air we breathe to the forgiveness of our sins. I am currently in an Master of Fine Arts Photography program and am using my projects as a chance to introduce many of my classmates to God’s Word. I update my business Facebook page with pictures of the projects I am currently working on.

I believe it is fairly apparent from Mr. Mielki's responses that photography can indeed be used in an incredible way within our society. I also believe that photography from a Biblical standpoint is significantly lacking in the media world, and I personally look forward to potentially contributing to this certain area in the years to come. 

For all you photographers out there who are believers in Christ, I'd challenge you to consider  your photography, whether it be a hobby or business, from a different perspective- a Biblical perspective.  The Bible itself commands us to glorify God in everything that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31), so go out there and find a way to glorify God with a camera! 

Creation in flight

The flexibility of an owl is incredible. Whereas humans have two sockets on which the head pivots, owls only have one, providing them the ability to fully rotate. Owls also possess multiple vertebrate in their neck and spine giving them a wider range of motion. 

Yet even with these abilities, a spinning head would still cause severe internal bleeding and breakage. After years of scientific research, scientists discovered that owls possess special backup arteries which offer a fresh supply of nutrients when the blood vessels get closed off by rapid turning. Oh and by the way, their arteries swell to collect any excess blood created in the process. 

Crazy. Almost as if...somebody created them that way.