The Nature Sanctuary, Divine Land Ethic

I am the owner of a substantial plot of real estate called earth ... and since there's been a terrible misunderstanding of my environmental stance, please permit me to set the record straight. Unfortunately, my own words have been quoted and abused, particularly those recorded in Genesis 1:28: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" ... Spiritual theology has too long absorbed the blame for a polluted and abused environment ... Accusing fingers point to disappearing species of flora and fauna, to eroded and overgrazed pastures, to an industial dump bubbling with noxious chemicals, to a clearcut mountainside cluttered with slash, and then indict my divine command as the cause of all this. What injustice! I intended my creation to be used with love and respect. Yes, I want it to be used, for the good of humanity and for the glory of the Heavenly Father, to be used for shelter, food, clothing, medicines, refreshment, and inspiration. Remember the psalmist who rhapsodized the mountains around Jerusalem as an analogy of the divine and powerful presence "round about the people from this time forth and forevermore?"

In addition, I carefully designed my creation as a sustained-yeild entity, something that could be reused again and again if given the chance, if treated gently. That's why plants yeild seed, each according to its kind. That's why living creatures multiply according to kind. That is precisely how I renew, in a cycle of centuries. Surely I did not wish my creation abused and destroyed by human greed, nor did I plan for it to be paved over, poisoned, polluted, or frittered away. The fault for a sick world should be placed squarely where it belongs -- on humans who use land and trees, water and air for their own selfish purposes. I'm sick and tired of getting the blame for the rape of my earth by ignorant pioneers, greedy industrialists, and quick-profit farmers. And no conservationist who confesses the Almighty God should ever be shamed with an inference that his God is anti-environment. After all, I made the earth, didn't I? And when I looked at what I had accomplished, I saw that it was good. I intended harmony. In fact, I made harmony, a harmony that your ancestors corrupted and destroyed. Put the blame where it belongs -- on yourselves! Don't use the feeble excuse that you misunderstood the word "subdue," since I gave clear and definitive guidelines for land-use in Leviticus 25: "You do not own [your land]; it belongs to God, and you are like foreigners who are allowed to make use of it."

Please note that I did not inspire scripture primarily as an environmental textbook. The Bible is basically a work that speaks of man's relationship to God and to his fellow men. Yet you can still find numerous clues as to how I regard my earth. Look at my divine care for the birds, and how beautifully I clothe the wildflowers (Matthew 6). Examine my concern for agricultural land, and how I commanded my Jewish children to give the earth a complete rest every seventh year, to let the soil lie fallow (Leviticus 25). Consider how I make the springs to flow so the wild animals can drink and the nearby trees be nourished (Psalm 104). Yes, I appointed man to be ruler over everything that I have made. I placed him over all creation (Psalm 8), but I continually have hoped the he would use this earth to honor my greatness, not as a monument to his own greed and pettiness. I made trees to be used, certainly, in a creative and appreciative way. Olive trees give oil, fig trees give fruit, grapevines produce wine, and thornbuses offer shade. This honors me and benefits you (Judges 9: 7-13). I delight that some trees are used for medicine, cosmetics, gracefull ships, balms, paper, food, warmth, hedges that fence a field, and even the walls of a church. I am happy that other trees are preserved as a den for my raccoon, a nest for the pileated. I am pleased that you sit in the shade of another for thought and meditation, and that you save a twisted and ostensibly worthless grandfather of the forest to remind you of life's lessons.

My divine land ethic can be summarized in two words: loving use. I have always meant for land to be used wisely for the good of humanity and for the glory of God. If the use of a plot of ground fulfills these two conditions, that's great! I recognize that sometimes, the world being what it is, the well-intentioned human may be caught in a no-win situation as he attempts to use land in a healthy fashion. Centuries of injustice and greed have made solutions complicated at best, occasionally impossible ... The means to a discerning land ethic is the same means toward a happy life; justice, wisdom, sharing, mercy, love. There is no law against these things, and if they are consistently applied, the questions of proper land use would not even arise, for there would then be no hunger or hate, no waste or wastelands, no pollution or tears. (But now I am straying to a different topic: Heaven).

If you would permit a piece of fatherly advice, if you are one of those concerned citizens who looks around and despairs over the foolhardy contamination and waste of air and water, marsh and woodland, soil and sea, don't try to change the whole world. First, change yourself. And if you need help, remember that I'm here.

Sincerely,
God