Monday, August 6, 2007

Kudos to the Discovery Channel


Sunday was a sad day. It marked the conclusion to the series of shows about the family Chondrichthyes, the cartilagenous fishes, or sharks to the layman. But "Shark Week" shall return one day next year, and we shall all be better for it-though perhaps a little more fearful of the water.

One of the shows was a special on Tiger Shark attacks. One woman, Marty Morelle, swimming in front of her house, was thrashed and shaken viciously by a marauding Tiger Shark. The story centered around her death, and how her demise sparked a mass killing of Tiger Sharks. But eventually shark studies increased, and it was determined that one shark attacking a beach goer on one beach could be 40 miles away the next day. So the scientists and Hawaian powers-that-be denounced the need and efficacy of senseless shark killings (several swimmers were killed soon after Marty, proving that this only harms the eco-system and doesn't prevent further attacks).

The decision to save large sharks is somewhat comforting, I guess, because large sharks eat smaller sharks. Smaller sharks eat fish. Too many smaller sharks will lead to too few fish. And that's obviously bad.

But I found the conclusion of the show even more comforting. The husband had struggled dealing with the loss of his wife. But he could find refuge in God's ultimate plan of working everything out for the good of those who love Him. Yes, that is exactly how the show concluded. He read the verses from Romans 8, and then the show ended.

Kudos to the Discovery Channel for ending the show like that. They didn't have to. Their normally atheistic worldview or liberal and aloof God "came alive" that day through His word. His word that comforts His children even in the mess of tragedy.

I thought this conclusion was also quite fitting. Even though the shark ate most of her body, she will one day be getting another one. And her husband knew it.

2 comments:

Gail and Keith said...

Geoff, are you going to e-mail the Discovery channel with kudos for their coverage in presenting the husband's comments? We need to commend the networks when they get something right. G

Geoffsnook said...

Gail,

That is a fantastic idea. I'll go ahead and do that!