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Non-narrative foundational to narrative foundational to narrative possibly non-foundational - this is how the story telling style has evolved. Personally, I had always played with an understanding which meshed the three. The Great Chain of Being was in place to show how close a certain creature could be to God (or the supernatural being of your choice, if one should exist). The Tree of Life was a way of seeing that all creatures are united or tied together through a common bond of life. Emergence fit in because I could say that the origin of emergence was God (or other supernatural being) or that such a being allowed this process to happen. I even started rationalizing the creation story to blend with emergence. The bible doesn't say how long a day was. During the time when day had just been separated from night, one day could have meant a much longer time and the events of the biblical day could have happened in the form of emergence.

I created my story so that it would answer a lot of questions. It would summarize a lot of observations, yes, but I don't know that I particularly like it. Formulating a new story is being much more difficult than I had hoped. But Darwin breaks things down and I like his writing. My own understanding of evolution is going through its process of change.