Behold, the Lord will empty the earth[a] and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
for the Lord has spoken this word. Isaiah 24
This Side of Paradise is a blog of my journey in faith. We live in a fractured world - the earth was created by fragments, fire and floods, earthquakes and windstorms, ice and debris, drought and renewal. I find God in the natural world. Nothing sings the glory of God from the Highest Heavens than a snow-capped mountain peak in the fire of July as I wander through a forest, discovering secret valleys and hidden streams. A lonely canyon echoes even in the abyss: 'I am with you.' God's grace and splendor can be found in all creation. In Iowa, The Loess Hills are often overlooked as boring rugged patches in a sea of amber wheat - that has no depth of perception - flat and boring - yet the land is rich and bounteous in its soil and the mighty Missouri pumps water through the heartland. Water that fuels our crops and helps reap our daily bread.
One issue that is weighing heavily on my soul is humanity's blatant irreverence for God's creation. We have rebuked nature and the beauty of the earth for short-sighted greed - greed that depletes our resources and dehumanizes populations (human and wildlife) while in the end only creating a vacuum of industry that is not sustainable.
The earth is God's expression of grace. The earth is beautiful, extraordinary and amazing - yet if you examine the geologic history of the world - God used extreme volatile forces to mold and perfect his masterwork - Look at Yellowstone National Park - volcanism and glaciation...The Great Smokies...Zion National Park. God's glory resonates the most when he uses seemingly humble means to create the most extraordinary. Zion Canyon was formed by the Virgin River, a small stream cutting and eroding away at rock - God didn't storm in with a league of sculptors, he uses the power of water to carve and create, to renew and chip away the old formless void into HIS creation.
I make these points because in our modern age of high technology and supermarkets and me-me-me culture of fast track apps we often fail to understand the complex interconnected natural world we live in. It is ironic that we think nothing of an overnight delivery across the ocean or an email hitting our in-boxes within seconds from a friend 3,000 miles away that we fail to understand how connected the natural world is. We don't see how one small landfill causing toxic levels in an area stream can cause problems in a lake in another state. Our planet is a biosphere with millions of smaller ecological systems that can be self-sustaining, but are still part of the larger global geographic system. So pollution in China does affect the US and drought in Africa affects the US.
Some of these effects are weather related, others are felt in our consumerism styles and food supply. Drought in South America and Africa affects numerous worldwide industries. Add in coal, mining and fracturing to the global scene and local problems become worldwide problems that not only ravage our environment, hurting food production - the greed also dehumanizes entire populations.
Many scientists say the problem is the human population and they rally for euthanasia and abortion. As someone with a background in Economics and Behavioral Sciences as well as some coursework in Geography - for humanity to prefer killing our own to working to stop big oil and gas and GREED shows where the problem lies. We as a human race have lost our moral compass and in doing so we are also losing touch with how to sustainably maintain a global economy.
When you dehumanize and ravage entire areas of the planet to cater to short-term profit while encouraging an unsustainable consumerism - the effects of that sin turn deadly and violent if left unchecked.
Instead of blaming overpopulation we need to look outside - to God's creation - and seek solutions for sustainability through conservation, alternative energy, reduced consumption, more viable long term production models and also decreased use of non-renewable resources, while protecting our renewable resources for future generations.
Many, unfortunately many Christians, don't want to give up anything - they want to have a lifestyle of buy now, pay later. They would rather enjoy their gas guzzler and live easy lifestyle than work to preserve our land. Many would rather cut down a forest for a subdivision (often one built on bare bones of the state code) rather than look for urban living solutions.
God has given us a wonderful earth - full of bounty and beauty and yet we choose to desecrate it by greed and apathy.
The biggest issues facing us right now are climate change (yes it is happening), but even if it wasn't we have an energy crisis and until we invest in renewable sustainable energy we will burn out and our society is no longer set up for a non-electric life, at least not in the U.S. Electricity use is not a sin against God, what is a sin is how we use it and the way we obtain energy. Coal is not viable - yet energy executives continue to lobby for coal in many rural areas with promises of jobs. Those jobs are not going to be sustainable - the quality of life goes down with a coal mine - West Virginia won't admit it - but look at the number of issues with their water supply and mining deaths in the past century. It has actually depleted use of other viable renewable resources they have - including water resources.
NASA has confirmed that the planet is losing water - our water supply is drying up. This can no doubt be traced back to greed - where people have overbuilt and overused their resources. The biggest threat, particularly in the US to water is hydraulic fracturing. Nestle too has a notorious reputation for stealing water from area water supplies and selling it in mass around the world. The CEO of Nestle does not believe that access to water is a human right.
God warned Isaiah of this in Isaiah 24. Still while many believe we've already desecrated the earth beyond repair - I still have faith in God, but that faith must be exercised. We must give up a part of ourselves to help protect our resources and be good stewards of the land. It is not our land, but God's.
We still have a chance to beg God for mercy and to work to be good stewards of the land. The Pope's new encyclical is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and is also backed up by science.
I will begin to do posts on ways to help our environment. A small act can make a big difference.
- Take only 3 showers a week for under 4 minutes.
- Don't buy water made by Nestle and other vendors who abide by unethical practices
- Recycle
- Buy organic, eco-friendly products.
- unplug electronics from the wall
- turn off lights when you leave the house
- Take the bus
- Walk when you can (it is good stress relief too)
- So much of life style change is simple - if we just take time to think first about God's blessing of creation before we delve into our own desires.
Prayer is a powerful tool in bringing forth change, but prayer is empty unless we work to enact change where we can. Small acts - even just signing a petition help. God works through our actions - so make them shout forth His Glory - even in the narrow roads.
This has to be revolution of love of God by respecting all of HIS creation and not hording the gifts he has given us.
God has given us a warning - will we listen.
I will add fact checks soon along with other links, but I felt so compelled to write this - my heart burns for our planet. God is languishing as we desecrate his creation - his grief is not only for the planet - but more importantly in truth because we are destroying ourselves, our souls in the sin of greed and apathy and our ability to live on the planet he gave us for cultivation.
Prayer:
Father, most merciful, cleanse us through the blood of Christ
Help renew our hearts through YOUR Holy Spirit to be fed spiritually. Cast greed and apathy from our hearts, do not let the flesh be ruled by the hunger of the world, but rather a hunger of serving you. In service to YOU we are called to be good tenants of YOUR creation. Help us to manage our resources in a way that helps to harvest your love throughout the earth and does not let sin take root and pollute the ground. We pray that those in power who seek to desecrate your creation are uprooted and disgraced and that all nations work together toward a common good of conservation and hope that we can aspire to rise above greed, hate and war but to bring your kingdom to the earth by sowing your kingdom into the soil. Help us to have fear of your creation so that we may honor YOU through it. Preserve us, help us, remember not the filth of our sin and the stains on the ground - but clean our hearts and renew the earth. Praise be to God
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