This is really cool. A determined kid wanted to know what was behind that air seepage, a cave in France was discovered, and the result is the discovery of the most ancient Neanderthal gathering place ever found, by far. Really far. 176,500 years far.
I know there are those who believe the earth is only a week’s worth of thousands of years old, based on Genesis in the Bible, and I applaud their reading of scripture and their faith in His Love that guides the universe. May I offer my opinion that G_d taught in parables from the beginning and that trying to limit Him to our understanding of physical time as we experience it here doesn’t quite work for me.
Evolution is a beautiful parable on a cosmic scale: it offers the thought that no matter what life throws at us, we can adapt and with His help even improve precisely because of our more difficult challenges.
So science in this case should not be considered (I totally set you guys up for this) an add-hominini attack.
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(Edited to add, Dad, that was for you. One of the great treasures of my life all my life has been hearing my father roar with laughter over a great pun, progressing to a giggle fit going on and on and erupting at random moments thereafter. Love you!)