Pay Attention

Trinity Garden, Church of the Holy Trinity; Parnell, New Zealand

The Westminster Catechism teaches the chief end of man is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' Interesting.
I agree with it the statement in its totality, but for most people, theological statements do not translate into practical living.
This is especially true when God's holiness or His glory is so far removed from us.

We don't exactly live in a world that 'glorifies God' nor does culture seek to 'enjoy Him forever.' Instead, it is as if the Christian is trapped in a world where we know something is askew.

The world we know is wrought with colleagues who suffer with their spouses when a bout of cancer is endured; it is full of the prayers of the faithful when, for one of our own, breathing becomes as laborious as childbirth; it is a world full of pink slips, broken promises, tumors, aching backs, a spoiled environment and wanting lives devoid of God's glory and enjoyment of His blessings.

Yet, I have no desire to escape the natural world like some of the past and a few in the present.
In yesteryear, the Gnostics said the answer was to be found in deeper, more spiritual knowledge only a few could ascertain.
Then the time came when monks retreated to the desert and seclusion; personally, becoming a monk has never crossed my mind - mostly because I've never liked the haircut.
In a more recent time, including our own, there are the radical 'Fundamentalists' who attempt to flee the 'worldliness' which surrounds them.

When considering those who have fled from the world for a Promised Land, I can't help but think of the tragic end to those who fled to Jonestown only a few decades ago. 
They were a religious people escaping a polluted world, only to be deceived by the Father of Lies himself. Sad.
Scripture indicates we are to be separated from the world, not isolated from it.

Truthfully, I don't want to escape the world because it is the best and only world I have been given in which I might glorify God and enjoy Him through this life.
Personally, I want my life to be the fullness and the wholeness that God intended.

Bodie Island Lighthouse, OBX

You see, either the world belongs to God or it does not. 
Either I can hear God's voice whispering through the sounds and acts of nature when attentive, or I can't; both cannot be simultaneously true. 

If you and I could have known God aside from the world, God would not have created the world but would have created another medium through which His children would be called and guided to their Heavenly Father.

"In the beginning, God CREATED....."
So begins the first words to the greatest book ever to grace the human language; yet, it is not just a book but a revelation into the mind of God - a window into His heart.
This being true, the world had a sacred origin and life too, is sacred for He is the author of both.
But clearly, while I am expressing theology, the world in which you and I live, we know that modern men do not treat the world nor their bodies in the sacredness either deserves.

One has said that creation sings in a minor key; it could be this is the "groaning" the Apostle Paul referenced in Romans. 
After doing a little research into what takes place in the world, I can see why creation groans, for man has taken God's natural creation for granted:
- At an alarming rate throughout the 20th century, Americans took the most fertile lands on earth and instead of growing crops to feed the starving masses, we paved over them to form parking lots on which to sit our over-priced, over-used cars.

- Aside from the Wild Turkey spill in the Kentucky River (Kentucky) which killed thousands of fish during the '90's, and aside from the more recent chemical spill in the Elk River (Charleston, WV) which sickened hundreds and left over 300,000 without clean water for weeks - humans have been pouring toxins into our water supplies for years, without batting an eye.
And it has affected everything from the fish we wish we could eat to the water we suspiciously drink.

- And as far as human life goes, that which is the most sacred is actually the most endangered.
Roughly - about 24,000 children die every day in third world countries from diseases that have been deemed 'preventable.'
As for the West, we will abort over 120,000 more children each day, dying before they ever leave the womb.
Our adults do not just lead an assault on children, we are also abusing ourselves physically and sexually; showing the largest disrespect for the greatest of God's masterpieces. 

Unfortunately, our treatment of ourselves and our ever spiraling downward morality has caused us to force those things which are truly sacred to a very small place in our lives, if the sacred is there at all.
Most people who do make room for the sacred, relegate God to only a couple of hours each Sunday; some even will tell jokes in the parking lot of the church which would NEVER be told in the sanctuary.

Yet, with all these issues, the beauty of nature remains as one of the strongest pointers to an all-powerful, all-loving God. 
In my mind, I have stored many images from nature; it is a memory bank filled of God's grace and wonder.
Why any person would want to forsake God's creation for something that is less of an indicator of God's wonder is absolutely beyond me.

When man began to expand across the earth, cities began to be built for convenience; but among nature, trout streams and mountains - the perspective changes everything.
Nature reminds us how truly dependent we are upon God and how mortal we truly are in this world.

Some years ago, I briefly lived on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX); having enjoyed the sun and beach for many years on and off, actually living there for a short time provided me with a different perspective than a casual tourist would have.
But I digress.

One of the main concerns of environmentalists and the National Park Service for years on the OBX has been the well-being of Loggerhead Sea Turtles.
The Loggerhead is an amazing animal. The can age to be over 70 years old and become over 6 feet long.

Not so long ago and for many years prior, anyone who chose could drive as many miles on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as they desired.
Most people who in fact did take their vehicles on the beach, did so to enjoy nature, to fish in the surf - sometimes in seclusion, sometimes with numerous people from other places around the world.
Such was the case at two of the greatest fishing places on the East Coast, the Oregon Inlet and Cape Point, located on Hatteras Island.

In all the years, from 1979 to now, I have NEVER seen or even heard a rumor of any turtle nor any other wildlife being harmed on the beaches of the Outer Banks.
But that didn't stop the federal government from exercising its authority and closing off the vast majority of the seashore to the public in the name of 'protecting' the Loggerhead Turtle.

The point of this is that the very beach and habitat that was sought out for protection in the long term, can no longer be enjoyed.
Why would we protect nature only to shove humanity off the very land which would shout choruses of God's Glory.

"The place in the monastery which is closest to God is not the church, but the garden.'
                                                                                                      -- Egyptian Monk Pachomius

The monk is accurate, for I too am close to God in the garden; in nature.
But nature delivers mixed messages; the beauty of creation is often mingled with brutality and pain.
Chimps aide their wounded; ground squirrels routinely eat their own babies.
Dolphins will risk their own lives to help their companions; Mallard ducks will gang rape and then drown other ducks.
Morality in nature certainly isn't absolute; nature is fallen as we are fallen.

Comforting is the fact God knows every sparrow which falls; and they do fall, just as hair falls from our heads during chemotherapy.
And nature, like God's children, though fallen - it will be redeemed.

The very fact we know that something is obviously wrong with the world is proof that God does exist.
But beyond that, humans have an in-built longing for a place where His will is fulfilled and is the norm; for, that is the place where we are headed in His redemption.

And if you pay attention, you'll be able to see glimpses of His hand in the world pointing us to Himself.
Until next time, go win one for the good guys.