Transformation is a divine concept.
The power to transform flows from the hand of our Creator. If you doubt this, simply step outside and behold the graceful flight of the butterfly. This miracle of nature once existed upon earth as a grounded caterpillar. Now it flutters through the air - freed from the flightless form of its past - with beautiful wings of a new life, all thanks to the transformative process of metamorphosis. The next time you look upon a caterpillar, consider that there is more than meets your eyes at that moment. The little guy is actually a butterfly in disguise, albeit a future one. The gradual nature of the transformation makes it no less amazing!
While you are outdoors, you catch a glimpse of a golden glimmer on a nearby leaf. You walk toward the foliage to get a closer look. There you discover one of God's most beautifully amazing creatures. The Golden Tortoise Beetle has the incredible ability to transform its color from gold to red when mating or when threatened. This gilded wonder even looks like a miniature Transformer due to its metallic semblance.
Photo Credit: Ilona Loser
Once back indoors, you close your eyes and embark on an imaginary expedition to the Ecuadorian rain forest. If your powers of visualization are sufficiently developed, you might envisage the breathtaking diversity of plant and animal life surrounding you. No doubt you will catch a glimpse of a frog or two hopping across the field of your mental vision. There is one amphibious inhabitant of this place, however, which is unlikely to make a cameo in this imagined scene - owing to its rare, incredible and almost unbelievable morphing ability. But it is really there nonetheless.
There, living among the rain-soaked foliage of the dense environment, is the cryptic critter known as The Mutable Rain Frog, a miracle of nature only discovered in the fairly recent past. (The word mutable means changeable, an apt description for this species.) In an incredibly brief span of time, this ''super frog'' can alter its very own skin, transforming the texture from spiny to smooth in a matter of minutes. It holds the distinction of being the first known vertebrate able to transform its shape in such a brief period of time. Here we have an actual transformer! How cool is that?
Photo Credit: Katherine Krynak
This is God's handiwork. But our exploration is not yet completed..
The falling rain in the forest triggers thoughts of water, leading to thoughts of lakes and oceans. Suddenly, faster than any ''real'' conveyance of the material world, your imagination has transported you to the deck of a research vessel, surveying the liquid landscape of a great body of water. Slipping into your scuba diving gear, you plunge into the mysterious underworld of the sea. You are on a quest to find traces of God's transformative touch in the deep. You will not be disappointed.
As you navigate through the aqua terrain, you spot what appears to be a rock with eyes resting on the sea bed. ''That can't be,'' you reason to yourself. Suddenly the true nature of the sandy-colored object is revealed. It's a Cuttlefish, magically transforming back to its original form, darting in front of you. At least it seems like magic. This marine ''magician'' can actually alter pigments in its skin, thus altering the way light is reflected. The amazing result? The Cuttlefish is then enabled to effectively become one with its surroundings. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have found yet another one of God's natural transformers!
Farther on you see a round object floating and bobbing in God's great pool. The sighting instantly reminds you of a beach ball. But those are found on beaches - on land. As this ''ball'' rotates you realize it's no artificial toy. It's not artificial at all. On the contrary, you have swam upon the incredible, inflatable creature known as The Pufferfish. This puffy phenomenon can, through the process of inflating its tummy with either water or air, rapidly double its normal size, effectively becoming a living ball. This amazing transformation is triggered whenever ''Puff the Magic Fish'' encounters a threat. It truly is a wondrous sight to behold.
The deeper you go, the more unbelievable are the discoveries. This is the reality of walking with God, and it also holds true for exploring His watery underworld.
There is The Sea Cucumber - the only life form on earth with the ability to turn itself into a liquid and back into a solid. (Can you imagine what it would be like if humans possessed this capability?)
Photo Credit: Leonard Low from Australia
There is The Mimic Octopus - the tentacled transformer able to mimic its background environment, as well as more than a dozen other species.
Photo Credit: Steve Childs
Then there is the death-defying creature popularly known as The Immortal Jellyfish. This alien-like occupant of the ocean can, at least theoretically, live forever by returning to the starting point of its life cycle. It's the nearest thing to immortality yet discovered in our mortal world.
Photo Credit: Bachware
Yes it's true...
TRANSFORMERS REALLY EXIST!
© Matt Decker
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