Sunday, March 22, 2009

Heaven on Earth

When I was in middle school back in Ohio, I remember clearly one day riding in a car with my mother. I remember looking out of the window and seeing buildings, subdivisions and parking lots everywhere. I turned to my mom and asked her if there was enough room for everyone on the earth. To me it looked like eventually there would be no space left to build houses for future families because the land was literally covered with them already. Once all the space was used, what would we do? Looking back now I would even add in, “what about all of the plants and animals, will they have room?” My mother could tell I was worried, and so I believed tried to comfort me by telling me “God has promised that there will be enough and to spare.” For a while this was good enough for me, my mother had said so and she must be right, because she is my mother. However as I grow older I see more and more clearly the troubles of this world and I cannot rely on the government or those higher up than me to just magically make things better somehow. I used to think that there was very little that I could do and if I just gave it time, someone else would find the solution to life’s troubles. After all, someone else discovered penicillin, someone else tapped the use of electricity, figured out how to make an airplane and so on. Surely someone will find a way to save all the endangered species, eliminate pollution and waste, and stop the deforestation and desertification around the world. Yet we know (we have talked about it in past blog entries) that if we all just look around and wait for that someone to step up, it will never happen. Instead I would like to address perhaps why we feel this way. While I was young my mother did a good job comforting me, yet now I find her advice slightly unsettling. There are many very religious people in the world who seem to dismiss their human responsibilities and say that everything is safely “in God’s hands.” In fact, there are also many people that I know who don’t believe in a God, and that humans are simply an ‘evolutionary accident’ yet they seem more environmentally responsible because since they believe there is no God, then it is absolutely up to us to make things right. I believe that God helps those who help themselves. Does God have the power to wipe us all out and begin the custodial clean-up? Of course he does. But will he? No. We are here to learn and grow and try to be more like him. If we have the foresight and take the time an effort to try to correct our past mistakes, if we do this with his will in mind he will help us. I think we as Latter Day Saints know the importance of this world and need to remind ourselves that we should not just sit in church on Sunday and wait for the second coming so that we may be glorified and live with our Father in Heaven forever. This world will be our celestial kingdom and we need to take care of it now, and prove to God that we will be good stewards. I think the best way to start to make a change is to picture the Earth and everything in it as it will be when it reaches its paradisiacal glory. Then, just as we view our bodies as temples, we can begin to see the earth as a temple and treat it as such.

10 comments:

  1. I think one of the most beautiful parts of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that we believe in a religion of action. It is not enough for us to simply state a belief, and our actions speak louder than our words. I believe the same concept applies to how we deal with world. Well-written blog.

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  2. I guess we all have to start somewhere. I heard that this Saturday the UN or some other international group is supporting "earth hour" which they are hoping that everyone in the world will shut of all their power in their house, unplug everything, don't drive your car etc..., for one hour. Sounds like a start and it will create some global awareness.

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  3. Your mother's response to your question was fashioned so that you at that young age would be able to understand, I don't think she meant to say that Divine Intervention would be the environmental cure all. It's true that people have to act, but before anyone will act they must be inspired. The problem therefore isn't what people are doing, it's what people are thinking - if we want things to happen we have to change the way people think.

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  4. It is interesting that some atheists are more concerned with the well-being of the planet than the majority of Christians. We believe that an all-powerful being created this planet for us, expects us to be stewards over it, and that someday we will have to answer for our actions before an ominpotent God; and somehow that isn't enough to motivate us not to litter? Meanwhile, our atheist brothers and sisters watch out for the environment because it is a good thing to do? What gives?

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  5. At least we aren't as crowded as the urban planet Coruscant on Star Wars. Their whole planet was a city. Now that would be a nightmare! On a more serious note, I know that there will be room for all the people on the earth. Though we are agents of creation, God is still in charge of the miracle of creation and He probably won't allow His children to completely overrun the planet. I don't say that because under the impression that this post was trying to say humans will overrun the earth. I just say that because I feel that we need to have faith in God's plan that He will provide for His children the opportunity to have a mortal probationary testing ground. With that said, we should do better to treat the gift we call Earth with more respect.

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  6. Your correct in your perception that we cannot wait for others to make a change but that we ourselves have to find ways to individualize our efforts in preservation.
    One way that I think helps us to see the world and all its elements is to try and see them through the eyes of Christ, and treat them as he would. Of course we are likely to always fall short, but our efforts and attitudes can make a great difference. Thanks for your blog!

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  7. very true, im sure the promise is that we will have all we need if we do all we can. that seems to be a re-occurring theme. if we work hard to protect it and take care of it but if we just treat it as though we deserve it then that is our decision and he wont intervene in our self destruction

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  8. I think that you have a very valid concern and a poignant point. There is much that we can do as Christians, but I think that there is much that we can do even if we aren't Christians. You don't have to believe that God is hanging over you with a big stick to take care of something. You just need to have learned to take care of things because they have worth. I think all of this is a testament to the lack of morality in the world... it is sad and the solution starts with us and what we teach our children.

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  9. I've always wondered what exactly motivates atheists to save the environment. For me, much of my motivation comes from a recognition that our Heavenly Father created the world and wants us to be its stewards. However, if I didn't believe that, I would think that humans are just fulfilling their evolutionary role. We are a part of nature, and we've been an extraordinarily successful species. Why should we save other species unless it profits us as a species? It's only my faith that has dissuaded me from these ideas.

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  10. I often think about this issue as well. I made a comment in class once about humans interfering with the balance of life. It is a touchy subject but one that needs to be viewed. The reason that i think atheists invest so much into the environemnt is because they have no notion of life after death so they try to protect what they appreciate so they can use it while they are living.

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