Out of the Box

My daughter has a plush platypus. Not your usual teddy bear, that's for sure. If you are not familiar with platypuses (or platypi?), it is one of the most unique animals in the world. A native of Australia, it has a duck-like bill, a beaver-like tail, webbed feet, and dense, brown, water-proof fur. The male is venomous (it has a spur on its hind feet) and the female lays eggs. When European naturalists first discovered this creature in 1798, they thought it was a fake. Then they didn't know how to categorize it. Now, it is considered a mammal because it has fur and it nurses its young.

When my children and I were studying zoology last year, I was surprised to discover how many animals had a problem similar to the platypus's. They didn't fit neatly into a category.  The tree kangaroo is another example. It looks like a small kangaroo, but its face is really more like a koala's face. And if you think about it, the way it climbs and lives mostly in the trees makes it more like a koala than a kangaroo. Why didn't the biologists decide to call it a koala-roo? Or a long-tailed koala? I don't know. Why are legless lizards not called snakes? Why do some snakes lay eggs and some not?

We as humans are always trying to organize our world. As babies, we put labels on things: animals are 'dogs', round things are 'balls', short people are 'babies'. As we mature, our categories become more sophisticated, but they do not go away. That is why we have stereotypes and prejudices. It helps us organize our lives. 

I believe some stereotypes are actually helpful. Knowing that Chinese people tend to be more reserved can save one from an awkward situation. Understanding a person's background can help one be more empathetic and compassionate.

But also understanding that man-made constructs are strictly man-made can help us be less judgmental. When we see a person, we may be quick to assume his/her personality, hobbies, and needs. But how correct are our assumptions? We are confined by the little boxes we have made for ourselves. 

God is the only One who can see outside of the box. My husband uses the story of Jonah to help illustrate this point. Scholars for years have argued about the 'fish' that swallowed Jonah. Was it a fish? a whale? a whale shark? We don't know, because God's way of looking at His creation is not the same as our way. He made all creatures of the sea on the fifth day of creation. He didn't make gilled creatures one day and lunged-creatures the next. What's most important is that details like gills and lungs are not so important to God. And neither are tattoos, hair color, family background, height or size. When God sees a person, he never sees a stereotype. He sees the person as him or herself.

Long before 1798, God created the platypus, and He created it to be like other animals, but at the same time, unlike any other animal. If we can learn that categories are not all that matters, for platypuses or for people, we can begin to see people as God sees them, and love people as God loves them.