Amazing difference

A friend suggested that perhaps God was having second thoughts about some of the things He had said. (Sorry for the male pronoun, but I think you have to use a personal pronoun and this is the standard one.) My friend suggested that in the light of the mess in the Gulf of Mexico that God might want to take back the "dominion" over creation that God was brave enough to give to humanity. Certainly when God flooded the earth, He commented that the evil that human beings had discovered made Him regret having created them. My friend suggested that maybe, just maybe, even without including the possibility of climate change and global warming in the discussion, maybe the decisions made by BP to cut corners, save money, skip the necessary testing of the deep water well and then say that it was a "big ocean" when the spill first happened by itself would be enough to depress God and make Him wish he could take back that "dominion" gift. I understand that the word in Hebrew translated Dominion here is much more a word that would suggest that we are to be stewards and care takers of creation rather than the dominance and exploitative notion of dominion.

The contrast for me is radical in my recent return from Tanzania and the massive amount of land that has been set aside as National Park and Conversation areas. The Serengeti plains are a National Park and no human is allowed to live in the Park. There are some lodges and hotels in the park and they have staffs, but no one lives and ranches in the Park. The Conservation areas are massive land areas where animals, land and natural environment are protected, studied and nurtured. Certainly Tanzanian government has worked very hard to preserve the Serengeti plains. Tourism is a major source of income and it is to their advantage to preserve the wilderness which draws people to visit. But they have not even allowed paved roads in the park. They are working hard to learn how to be good stewards and partners with the animals and landscape.

In fact there are several areas in which I think they will be able to teach us. One, Tanzanians and their country have learned how to live with little water. Rain is very precious and there are terrible periods of drought, and so they have learned to conserve and to be good stewards of water. As other nations grow and water becomes more precious in other countries we will need to learn from them how to survive with little water. Two, they have already begun to invest in alternative energies. Especially solar power. They do not have a lot of old power equipment and lines and there is not a lot of money invested in old infrastructure. They have lots of sun and lots of wind. The hotels and other businesses are already into wi-fi and satellite communications. Even in that country almost everybody has cell phones.

There are lots of things, I suspect, that bring tears to the eyes of God. The way we treat the wonders of creation, the way we treat the amazing diversity of people, the way we waste and spoil our lives by the pursuit of "lesser things." But I think my friend may be right, God must be shaking his head and saying, "What was I thinking to ask them to take care of my wonderful creation."