It’s astonishing how we take for granted God’s creation. We spill oil into the sea and pollute earth’s beauty, but we are completely at nature’s mercy when the rains begin to fall and the wind starts to howl.
This weekend Tennessee saw the wrath of mother nature as waters rose well above minimum flood levels. Mayor Dean went as far to declare Davidson county is in a countrywide state of emergency. We’re housing 200 evacuees in Lipscomb University’s Student Activity Center, which is terrific, but hundreds, maybe thousands of others are displaced and seeking shelter. The body count from the raging flood waters has reached double digits and could be higher. And currently, the Cumberland, where we dump a majority of our sewage, is making its way onto Second Avenue. Our city hasn’t seen a flood like this in almost a hundred years.
Welcome… to Nashlantis.
As I walked outside tonight, I could feel a natural peace in the air. If you take a look at the plants in Nashville, you’ll see that the trees, the bushes, the flowers, and the grass all look so green and happy. Here at Lipscomb, you can hear the cacophony of frogs singing through the night. Even the clouds over head seem to have a certain serenity to them. The heavy rains may have been damaging to human property, but they were a blessing of cleansing to God’s creation.
As I read on about the man-caused oil flow in the Gulf of Mexico, I am shown humanity’s indifference to God’s creation. The ocean, our greatest resource, is essential to our survival. Yet, we continue to pollute the seas with sewage, fertilizers, toxins, and oil. I fear that we will not realize the value of clean water until it is gone. I may not see the death of the ocean in my lifetime, but I fear that my children or grandchildren just may. We have to start acting today to protect our greatest resource.
Last week I went to see Disney Nature’s newest film “Oceans” twice in theaters. Not to spoil anything for future viewers, but I was really stunned by the pollution segment of the movie. Radiation shots from space reveal the flow of sewage, toxins, and pollution as they course through our rivers and into the sea. Then, Disney takes us into the heart of the pollution and into the life of a sea lion searching for food amidst the stagnant plastics and food wrappers. Every time we throw something away, it just goes somewhere else. That somewhere is most likely someday going to be the ocean. I’ve been trying to keep that in mind every time I need to toss something in the trash.
“Oceans” Narrator Pierce Brosnan concludes by stating, “Human indifference is truly our oceans’ greatest threat.”
God has only given us one Earth. We have to take care of her.
