Last week I had a wonderful time going to Christmas at the Indianapolis Zoo.  During the Christmas season, the Indy Zoo stays open in the evenings with some of their animal exhibits open for visitors, as well as the addition of Christmas lights and carol singers.  I enjoyed seeing polar bears, walruses, a Kodiak bear, dolphins, lizards, different kinds of fish, and I even touched a shark!  It was so much fun, and I felt like a kid at the, well, the zoo.

One of my favorite parts was the Ocean area, with aquariums full of tropical fish, sharks, and (my favorite) the jellyfish.  In case you’ve never seen it, an aquarium full of jellyfish must have been the inspiration for the lava lamp.  They float, glide, softly bump into each other, tentacles whispering across one another.  The way their translucent bodies slowly ripple as they propel themselves through the water so slowly.  It’s mesmerizing. 

While I was looking at them, I was thinking about how God had created them to look just like that.  To move just like that.  And I wondered if maybe he thought that they way they move is enchanting and mesmerizing and beautiful.  I’m sure jellyfish have some sort of ecological purpose for our oceans, but I like to imagine that God created them, not for their function, but because he thought they were cool and he smiles when he sees them move.  When I read Job 39-41 again recently, I see that God enjoys his creation very much.  The speed of the ostrich, the strength of the horse, the laughter of the donkey…God’s creation makes him smile.  I can kind of imagine God and I standing in front of the aquarium together watching the jellyfish and smiling.