Several years ago my son Dave and I were on a trail ride in one of southwestern Utah’s seemingly endless awe-inspiring canyons: Kodachrome Basin.  Riding along with us was a California family that included the grandparents, par­ents, and children.  Our trail boss, Bob, a good-humored, experienced wrangler, patiently put up with our amateur horseman­ship on the trail and even took time to give us the natural history of the land and the vegetation.  One of the unusual plants he pointed out was what he called “corral grass.”  Its unique feature is that it grows in circular patches and, as he explained, by making a ring of tight growth, it pro­tects its root space from other encroaching plants.  When Bob finished his explanation, the grand­father, who had been matching wits with the trail boss, quipped, “Yes, but what’s it good for?”  And we all chuckled.

As the horses plodded on toward the next spectacular vista, I thought about the grandfa­ther’s comment:  While I knew it was meant to be funny, almost unconsciously it influ­enced three gen­erations to continue thinking, like the majority of the Western world, that natural things have little value unless we can identify some practical use for them.  If they have no obvious value for me or for mankind in general, they are mere curiosities—not worth much, if anything.

Ecological studies, however, are providing overwhelming evidence that the survival of the earth’s ecosystems depends upon a vast diversity of plants and animals that interdepen­dently maintain life.  Living things once considered worthless, or even harmful, are now known to be vi­tal ingredients in the recipe for a healthy environment.

In fact, Christians can declare without fear of contradiction, “God believes in biodiver­sity.”  How else can we interpret the account of Noah’s ark?  Since God created the earth with biodiver­sity, we can logically conclude that he in­tended for that biodi­versity to continue.  All of us who claim the authority of the Bible as the Word of God should be willing to accept biodiversity as a basic fact of creation.  Further, I believe we have a responsibility to honor all things created because God has reasons that we have no knowledge of.

 We also have an important statement in Scripture about biodiversity and the place of human utility in relationship to what God  has created in Genesis 2:9: “The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.”  Here there is biodiversity in “all kinds of trees,” and the beauty of the trees is mentioned before their utility.

I feel it’s wise for us to gain knowledge of all things God created.  Consider all that was included in the gift of wisdom God gave to Solomon: “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. . . . He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish” (1 Kings 4: 29, 33).

Hyssop

So, anonymous California grandfather, if you want to match wits with Solomon, you’ll probably have to care more for such things as hyssop—and corral grass.

See you outdoors!

Dean