I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.  Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works (Psalm 145:1-5)

Poor Rachel Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) can’t seem to rest in peace.  Ever since her book Silent Spring virtually spawned the modern Environmental Movement, her scientific conclusions about DDT have been accepted, rejected, challenged and re-researched so often that it’s hard to know the truth about it.  Mostly, however, the issue has been an economic football kicked from post to post in a hard-fought battle between conservative libertarians and perceived “liberal” scientists.  For sure the issue has kept in everyone’s attention the advisability of spreading “cides” all over the landscape and has rightly cautioned us about using them without knowing all of the effects and side-effects of their use.

Rachel grew up in rural Pennsylvania and loved to explore and learn from the natural world as she ambled around her family’s 65-acre farm.  She was such an astute observer and good student that she had an article published when she was eleven!  Her sense of wonder in nature never left her.  In fact, it became the topic of another of her books: The Sense of Wonder.  The following quote from the book is found on the WOC page Creation Quotations and Wonder Kids.  Although Carson was not known as a follower of Christ and was probably a secular naturalist, her views on children and the sense of wonder are wise words for us to heed:

A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. Parents often have a sense of inadequacy when confronted on the one hand with the eager, sensitive mind of a child and on the other with a world of complex physical nature, inhabited by a life so various and unfamiliar that it seems hopeless to reduce it to order and knowledge. In a mood of self-defeat, they exclaim, “How can I possibly teach my child about nature—why, I don’t even know one bird from another!”

I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused—a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration or love—then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate.

[From The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel L. Carson]

[Our grandchildren---from top to bottom:  Gunnar, Elle, and Anna]

[The Lord, the God of Israel, says] “They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul (Jeremiah 32:38-41).

I [Jesus] pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:20-23).

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of polarization—polarization in virtually everything:  Public policy. National defense.  Theology. The state of natural environment.   And the list is growing—in large part because of polarizing talk shows on both radio and TV and because of media sound bites that capitalize on differences, not agreement.  Conflict sells.  Harmony doesn’t.

Sadly, the Body of Christ is not immune to sharp division—in spite of the fact that God the Son prayed that His followers would be one and God the Father wants to give His people “singleness of heart” as Jeremiah proclaimed.  Note, however, that Jehovah’s aim for His people is not merely singleness of heart, but also singleness of action.  That’s the really hard part.  We can feel that we are unified in heart, but if we are not unified in action, that feeling may be unjustified.

In his inspiring devotional booklet Resist the Powers based on the writing of Jacques Ellul, Charles Ringma reflects:

Harmony is seldom a windfall.  Instead, it is a reality that needs to be won in the face of great odds.  Ellul rightly points out that “harmony is to be found when certain events come together, but above all it is to be made, created, invented, and produced.”  Because harmony has nothing to do with uniformity, it will always remain a fragile commodity that needs to be continually recreated.  Essential to harmony is the all embracing concept of wholeness.

The importance of wholeness struck me a couple nights ago when Marge and I attended a right-to-life banquet arranged by the organization our son Eric works for: Life International. The enthusiasm demonstrated there for the sanctity of human life was electrifying—and unquestionably appropriate.  One result of that event in my own heart and mind, however, was to look upon my present calling as an advocate for the celebration and care of creation as far less significant.  We know from Scripture that human life is seen by God as more valuable than any other life.  It was the value of human life that brought the Creator to humble Himself and become a man—a Man who would die that we might attain everlasting life.  After the banquet, if someone had asked me what work I do, I might have felt a bit uncomfortable to tell them.  How can compassion for soil, trees, birds, rivers, atmosphere, and oceans hold a candle to compassion for human life?  For a time I saw myself standing at an opposing pole.

It took me a while to come back to reality and recall that care for human life and care for the creation upon which human life depends are not bipolar.  They belong together.  My son and I are working for the same Creator and the same cause: the health of all life created by Him.  It is folly to care only for the unborn child.  It is folly to care only for the state of the natural environment.  The Creator requires us to care for both.  How I wish and pray that the Body of Christ would come together in harmony on these vital concerns.  Consider Charles Ringma’s conclusion:

In achieving harmony, we seek to bring together those elements that seem to be opposed to each other.  Harmony, therefore, not only creates peace.  It also brings about a richness of life, for it draws into our orbit that which we first thought was incompatible.  Harmony will not be achieved by the insecure and those who are easily threatened.  It is created by those who are secure in the knowledge that they can learn from others.

Let us all be secure in our calling as we look forward in harmony toward the time of wholeness spoken of by the apostle Paul: “[God] made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:9-10. See also Colossians 1:20).

[Awesome baby photo By TinaQuispehuaman]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3).

[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17).

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP

One of my favorite old hymns of the church is “Fairest Lord Jesus,” in part because it was the first piece of choral music I sang in high school choir—in a secular high school! Miss Van Alsberg would probably be fired if she did that today in most secular schools. But the song came to mind afresh yesterday when I heard it on Christian radio on my way up the hill from Palm Desert to Joshua Tree NP. The lyrics of its first verse grabbed my attention because of my Wednesday post on who Jesus is to our young people today. They will be familiar to many:

Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

Yosemite woodland

The remainder of the lyrics speak of Jesus being fairer than the meadows and the woodlands in their spring attire and brighter and purer than the sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. This, of course, restates a key Christian doctrine: that the Creator is greater than His creation and is wholly separate from His creation. Most Christians understand and believe this.

Because I was a nature lover from my earliest days, I liked all the references to the natural world in the hymn.  However, even as a high school student I did not fully grasp the meaning of Jesus being the “ruler of all nature.” If I had stopped to think—or a pastor had made it clear when I was young—that there is a connection between the Jesus who loved and welcomed children two thousand years ago and the Jesus who is supernaturally acting today to sustain the creation and Who will one day redeem it, I think I would have had a lot more love and respect for the natural world much earlier. 

Merced River, Yosemite

That’s one key reason I feel that what we seek to accomplish with this Website is of vital importance to the church today. Maybe, in fact, some of you reading this are pastors or you are in a position to suggest to your pastor that sometime around Earth Day (April 22) a sermon or two on the implication of the passages above might be appropriate. Only in one of the churches I have attended have I ever heard sermons on Jesus as the “ruler of all nature” and what that might mean in our relationship to the natural world.

I’d be willing to wager that such a sermon or two would resonate with children and young adults. It’s a message they need to hear. And an important question comes out of this consideration: If Jesus is sustainer and ruler of all nature, how might we be working against Him?

The Wonder of Creation mission:

To showcase the wonder of Creation, to encourage trust in the wisdom and power of our Creator, and to inspire a desire to care for the natural world that He has entrusted to us.

[Yosemite photos by Daleberts from Flickr]

Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:13-14).

Yesterday I had the rare treat of being able to spend an entire day by myself wandering through one of the most unique places in North America: The Living Desert nature center in Palm Desert, California. But being a grandfather of seven—six of them under age 8, I soon felt bad that I was not able to have them share this with me. Grandfathering is like that. Most kids were enjoying their time there, but near the end of the day, I overheard a discussion between a mom and dad and their daughter who was complaining about being tired and was clearly bored.

“You’re eleven and can spend hours running around with your friends,” said mom, “and you can’t handle a few hours here?!” “Maybe we better think twice about the vacation we’ve planned for this summer!” said dad. The child muttered something in self-defense. (I felt it was a bit harsh—but then remembered saying some things similar to that when our three boys were kids!)

I was there telling myself that I was enjoying this treat like a kid; but that kid, and a few others I noted, were not enjoying it. As they walked off, I mused about how one would go about motivating kids today to be nature lovers. It’s a tough task—for a number of complicated reasons. Then the biblical account of Jesus rebuking His disciples for trying to shoo off children from “bothering” their Master came to my mind as somehow related to the problem.

To our kids, who, really, is Jesus?

The obvious theological answer to that is that since Jesus is now at the Father’s side and His Spirit is here indwelling believers, Jesus to our children is the same as who Jesus is to the rest of the world today: His body—the church—loving, and caring for each other, their neighbors, the world of lost humanity, and the good earth. To that eleven-year-old girl, Jesus would—if her parents were followers of Him—be personified in them. This is true of all who claim the name of Jesus.

But let me suggest something else here: While Jesus is indeed at His Father’s side, He is also, according to Colossians 1, the One who created all things, presently holds together all things, and who in His death, burial, and resurrection provided redemption for the cosmos, and will one day refresh, restore, reunify, and reconcile all things to God. If our children knew this about Jesus and recognized His hand in the creation in the beginning and continuing now, might they not have a different impression about the regal bighorn sheep, the sun-haloed cactus, the tenacious yucca, and every blooming desert wildflower? By isolating and insulating our kids from the wonders of His creation, are we not in the same boat with Jesus disciples: keeping the children from the Savior who is also our Creator?

That’s some pretty heavy musing, I know!  But think about it—-and feel free to discuss it using the comments feature below.

Be careful to seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever (1 Chr. 28:8). If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:8 NIV).

In the 1980s, commentators often called the younger generation the “Me Generation” or the “Now Generation.” They saw a disturbing attitude among young people that in essence said, “I want it all, and I want it now.” Considering the greed and materialism the younger generation saw in adults, the cumulative effect of thousands of hours of exposure to “consumer” advertising, the loss of interest in history, the disintegration of the institutions of family and marriage, and the decline of religious values, it is understandable that they would be characterized by self-centeredness.

Contrast that with the attribute of altruism—unselfish concern for the welfare of others. When the Christian values of faith in an eternal God, compassion for others, self-sacrifice, and hope for the future disappear from the general culture, there is little chance that altruism will survive. In fact, most people today would likely have difficulty even defining the term altruism. As the combined Scripture passages above indicate, people of the Word have a responsibility to provide for their children and to leave for them an inheritance of faith and the gift of good land—a creation respected and well-kept.

Christian farmer-philosopher Wendell Berry has written a number of books that underscore the broad meaning of community—community that includes our ancestors, our current family members and neighbors, our animals and land, and our descendants. These words from the book What Are People For? have caused me to consider more carefully the legacy I am leaving:

We do not need to devise a “world of the future”; if we take care of the world of the present, the future will have received full justice from us. A good future is implicit in the soils, forests, grasslands, marshes, deserts, mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans that we have now; the only valid “futurology” available to us is to take care of those things. We have no need to contrive and dabble at “the future of the human race”; we have the same pressing need that we have always had—to love, care for, and teach our children (p.188).

Berry elaborates on this last line in the book Another Turn Of The Crank:

I know of nothing that so strongly calls into question our ability to care for the world as our present abuses of our own reproductivity. How can we take care of other creatures, all born like ourselves from the world’s miraculous fecundity, if we have forsaken the qualities of culture and character that inform the nurture of children. . . . Whatever the reason, it is a fact that we are now conducting a sort of general warfare against children, who are being aborted or abandoned, abused, drugged, bombed, neglected, poorly raised, poorly fed, poorly taught, and poorly disciplined. Many of them will not only find no worthy work but no work of any kind. All of them will inherit a diminished, diseased, and poisoned world. We will visit upon them not only our sins but our debts. We have set before them thousands of examples—governmental, industrial, and recreational—suggesting that the violent way is the best way. And then we have the hypocrisy to be surprised and troubled when they carry guns and use them (pp.78-79).

This sobers me. As one who believes in Christ, I’d like to think he’s describing only non-Christian people. But I’m afraid I see many of these behaviors and attitudes among those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. We’re a long way from being the community that treasures our past, guards our present, and secures our future. While we look for the any-moment return of Christ, we cannot use this expectation to excuse ourselves from the responsibility to leave God’s gift of creation to our children and their children well-kept and as undiminished as possible in its capacity to provide for them what it has provided for us.

[Photos: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]