Frankly, our natural world is degrading. Our biker group rode through the spine of California last June, the magnificent Sierra Nevada Mountains. I cried a lot. A natural and understandable reaction to seeing thousands of acres of beautiful forests burned in just the last year. The pic above is just one example. And since our ride, two major holocausts, the Dixie and Caldor fires, and numerous smaller ones continued the devastation Much of that we humans have caused. But is it just a climate change issue, or a deeper spiritual one?
“You Gave Us”
6/25/21
You gave us
a magnificent and intricate world
rivers crystal clear for our thirst
and we dump waste in them
forests that cover our planet
creating the oxygen we breathe
and we burn them down through carelessness and greed
atmosphere that invigorates us with each breath
and we foul it with our fumes
hills that curve like a woman’s hips
and we gouge into them to build more houses
and see the earth erode into the sea
your breath breathed into ours
into our spirits
and we degrade our lives with
excess ambition
selfishness
and we stupefy our lives with
intoxicants of all modes
addiction to entertainment that dulls our marvelous minds
and we reject this gracious Giver
And I wonder
would you sit back
arms folded
smile
and say,
“It’s still good?”
After the five days of creating the natural world, God sat back and said, “That’s good.” Another day of work and humans entered the scene, and again he sat back, “That’s very good.” Then he gave us a task, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15, emphasis added). How have we done taking care of the world God provided to supply our needs? Not to despoil it, not to ruin it, but take care of it for future generations?
Do you see why I called this a spiritual issue? God didn’t yield ownership of the natural world, merely the old term “stewardship,” meaning we take care of another’s property. Much like what we now call a fiduciary responsibility, defined by Webster as “relating to a duty of acting in good faith with regard to the interests of another.” So, how have we done?
Kick Starting the Application
How committed have you been to creation care? What specific steps do you take now to take care of the earth? Do you see this as a spiritual issue? In what ways might you do more to honor God?