Those who live within a couple of miles of some supermarkets in Leeds can now have their groceries delivered by robotic trolleys. The people of Milton Keynes can hire a driverless car, which will arrive without a driver at their door. Advances such as these and the minds behind them are celebrated in the media.

In admiring human ingenuity in technology and other areas, let us not lose sight of the ingenuity of God who created the Universe and the human mind.

The swallows that “loop the loop” and perform such spectacular feats of flight in our summer skies are just one example of divine creativity. Up to a hundred years ago, no one knew where they came from when they arrived all over Europe in April, or to where they departed when they disappeared in late September.

We now know that the swallows that arrive here, many of them to the nests that they left the year before, have their “winter quarters” in South Africa. These little birds, not much bigger than a match box, make the 12,000-mile round trip between South Africa and here annually. They cover an average of 200 miles a day, feeding on insects as they fly over the Congo rainforest, the Sahara Desert, Morocco, Spain, and France.

The brains within their tiny heads guide them with sat nav accuracy to a precise location 6,000 miles from where they set off. Their little wings propel them on the equivalent of long plane journeys. Giving credit where credit is due, is it not more plausible and equitable to attribute this to divine ingenuity than to a mindless evolutionary process?

There’s a striking example of the Creator being given his due in a church in a very beautiful part of Ireland. All windows in the church are of stained glass, except for one window, which overlooks a breath-taking countryside. This window is of plain glass and is inscribed: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Psalm 9).

While we laud the inventors of our twenty first century robots and driverless cars, let us not turn a blind eye to the One who created all intelligence: the intelligence that guides the swallow on it long journeys, as well as the intelligence that lies behind the robot and the driverless car.