Rumors of Grace: Owners or tenants of our fragile home?

It is not a problem to visit spectacular nature destinations. Take for example the Himalayas. A web search or two with a credit card handy, a few ticket purchases, several flights, some ground transportation and viola, you are following the lead of your Tibetan hiking guide.

It’s even easier of course to get to the Rockies, the far North or to some stunning destinations on Canada’s East Coast. And when we get home, we can enjoy the sense of renewed appreciation we have for this astounding blue planet on which we live. We might even congratulate ourselves on having a stronger understanding of the need for environmental stewardship.

Nowadays, however, it is harder to be in contact with nature without feeling guilt. That very trip we take to see the shores of Georgian Bay is one of the reasons our planet is in trouble.

We love travel, but lacking the technology that powers the USS Enterprise’s transporter, we are stuck with the primitive carbon emitting internal combustion engine. We all probably do care to keep the Great Lakes healthy, and we all probably would like it if the 46,000 glaciers in the Himalayas were to remain in place through this century. However, it is our energy-intensive travel habits that, among other things, are spelling doom for these and of course, many other, natural wonders.

Let us consider those thousands of glaciers of Tibet for a moment. They are the source of Asia’s six largest rivers that bring water to 1.3 billion people. No glaciers, no rivers.

And here is the crux of the problem for those one billion and more people. According to the Tibet Nature Environmental Conversation Network, the glaciers are receding at a rate of seven per cent annually as a result of climate change.

It’s no wonder that few of us like to think about global warming because the reality is frightening. Along with this the thought of doing enough to stop the Earth’s atmosphere from heating up is also daunting. We hope that by some miracle, by some combination of the rapid cessation of the use of fossil fuels and the rapid increase in the development of clean energy, we will wake up a few decades from now to discover that fresh water still flows in Tibet and the Great Lakes are still home to fish and plant life.

We human beings are called, I believe, to environmental stewardship. We are asked to consider that a caring God creates the world, and that human beings are called into relationship with our environment. The environment does not exist mainly for the profit of multi-national corporations. It is not ours to do with as we want. Our role is to care for, and, if necessary, to restore our environments. We are tenants, not owners.

The opening pages of the Bible reveal a God who gives order to the creation, allowing it to be our home. Those pages offer a narrative that, even though it may be partly or completely symbolic, nevertheless delivers a literal and hopeful truth that we live in a creation that offers us what we need and more.

Our own record of caring for our home may be poor. Aboriginal groups tend to slash and burn. Modern industry pillages and toxifies.

But still we are called upon to renew our care for the world. Development must be done cautiously and with prayer. We ought to manage our environments not with the goal of providing ourselves with endless enjoyments. Instead our aim must be to leave behind a planet that our children will find a welcome home.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.