Good evening, Brothers and Sisters!
"Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome."
We live in a beautiful world! I watched the sun rise this morning, in tangerine and mango, deep blue and soft pink reflected in the snow and dancing off the icicles. It was silent as the sun rose, the earth holding its breath. It is even more lovely in summer as the sun sets on the trees and new mowed grass and the roses reflect the suns rays. I know it is not just beautiful here, photographs from our fellow Kossacks of the beauty of nature, of the birds and animals, parks and wilderness prove so. How could there be any question about the need to protect this for ourselves and those who follow us?
Indeed, for those who call themselves Christians and do not demand the protection of our environment, we find they are defying their own teachings. See our obligation to protect this world below the GOS (Great Orange Squiggle)
King David praised the beauty of this world we were given and reminded us how it came to be:
Psalm 136 1-9. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever... to him who alone does great wonders,... who by his understanding made the heavens, ... who spread out the earth upon the waters, ... who made the great lights-- ... the sun to govern the day, the moon and stars to govern the night...
And the book of Job chastises for not seeing the beauty of God's handiwork:
Job 37:14-18. Listen to this, Job. Stop and consider God's wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?
If we believe in a higher power, by whatever name we use, we need to see this handiwork as a treasure, given to our care, and tend to it well.
Lev. 25:23-24. The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
It is a tenant-landlord relationship. What do landlords expect of tenants? They expect tenants to care for and maintain the property. They demand this in respect for the other tenants, and for the value of their investment. It is not acceptable to take possession of a property and then destroy it. We are called on to honor the contract and take care of the leasehold. We must provide for the redemption of the land. What does a normal landlord do when tenants create foul odors, deposit trash on the property, destroy the water and wreak havoc on the infrastructure? The landlord evicts the tenants. We must take care not to be evicted.
Just so, in Ezekiel, God asks of the people:
Ezekiel 34:17-18. As for you, my flock... Is it not enough for you to feed on good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?
Indeed, must we, while using the water, dump pollutants into it? What about the other residents of the planet, the birds, fishes and animals? We must clean up after ourselves on behalf of those we share the planet with.
In Jeremiah, he says
Jer. 2:7. I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and you made my inheritance detestable.
And so it is with what we are doing with our planet.
Finally, there are words for those who destroy the planet in the search for wealth:
Mark 4:19. ...and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the world and it becomes unfruitful.
As we have seen this past year on our planet. We become so obsessed with pulling riches out of the earth we have choked it and it is becoming unfruitful. We have created an imbalance in the ecosystem that is causing drought over much of our nation and famine in other countries.
If calling it "global warming" or "climate change" is divisive, we can simply call it defiling the environment. After all, climate change is just a symptom of the problem. The real problem is that through greed, carelessness, laziness or lack of will, the planet is being damaged. For some reason, people who claim to be people of faith justify this. However, I believe that if we believe in a higher power, we have an obligation to keep this world not only livable, but beautiful and balanced. This admonition applies to Christians, Jews and Moslems, and if my reading of other belief systems is correct, it applies to other faiths as well.