We humans were created to live in harmony with nature, to love and cherish God’s Creation as much as we love and cherish God and people. We have three sets of parents: God, our spiritual and universal Parent; then, of course, our parents who gave birth to us; but another set of parents is nature. Nature provides us with our basic material needs, such as air, water, food, light and warmth. It teaches us the fundamental principles of the Universe that operate in nature, such as harmony, unity, sharing and nurturing. That is why we need close contact to nature – to learn those essential principles and laws. Environmental protection laws would not be necessary if we humans lived according to how God designed us and felt love and sensitivity toward nature.
Our physical bodies are the products of nature; the human body is so refined externally that it is notoriously difficult to draw its contours; it is so refined internally that even today biologists are still in the process of fully comprehending its function. The complexity and resilience of the human body is a miracle of Creation, but God also carefully considered the appearance of his human partners. Where should the eyes, nose and mouth be positioned in the face? Where should the sexual organs – the most precious and holy organs – be situated?
God also thought carefully about the environment for his love partners. Nature mirrors human beings such that we can be stimulated by it, feeling a deep emotional bond. Thus nature, which God created based on the model of a human being, came to resemble us. Even the simplest atom reflects the basic principles of the Universe; the principle of plus and minus reflects the masculinity and femininity found within God and human beings, and energy is perpetuated through the harmonious partnership between protons and electrons.
The pair system is the central theme permeating the Universe; even God is able to exist eternally and was able to give birth to the Universe because of the perpetual interaction of his dual natures that gave rise to mind and matter and male and female.
Plants have a type of mind – plant life – which guides their existence, thus plants respond to human love and care. Animals too possess a mind that in many ways resembles the human mind. Observe the ability of animals to communicate with each other in their own “languages” or to form emotional bonds with human beings.
The principles of the Universe, such as living for a greater purpose beyond the self, operate freely in nature. In the human world we have become confused about universal principles and blinded into believing that our lives are only for ourselves. In a moral sense, therefore, we have fallen below the level of animals and plants. It is hardly surprising that some environmental protectionists would be happy to see the end of the human race on this planet.
Yet we human beings have the potential to become true masters of love for the Creation as God intended, reflected in God’s words to human beings in the Book of Genesis: “Fill the Earth and subdue it”. Our challenge is to return to that original position by living in harmony with the universal principles. Just as nature shows us the principle of nurturing, so also we should have a nurturing attitude towards nature and not merely exploit it.
The beginning point of living a life of true mastery over creation is to develop a feeling of deep gratitude for material things in our daily life. Our appreciation and love would give things value and a reason to exist. Material things are longing for stewards who resemble God. St. Paul realised this when he said in his letter to the Roman Christians, Chapter 8: “The created Universe is waiting with eager expectation for God’s children to be revealed… “.
God’s essence is rooted in the principle of partnership and we come to resemble God when we reflect that principle. For example, both mind and matter have their orgin in God; therefore, when our body is governed with love by our mind, we feel liberated and exhilarated as we connect to God, our source. As another example, both masculinity and femininity are principles that originate in God. God has both a fatherly heart that pushes, challenges and encourages, and a motherly heart that nurtures and comforts. Therefore, when a man and a woman unite in God-centred love, God can dwell fully in that couple and they can gain true mastery over material things.
The things of nature feel their value when used by God-centred people. Food would desire to become part of such people; materials would desire to be used by such people to construct comfortable living environments. By being assimilated to human beings, material things would be more directly connected to the love of God because God’s love attains its fruition through true human beings. In such a state we would feel enraptured by our mystical union with nature.
Conversely, a person with spiteful thoughts or a desire to use others for his own benefit may develop health problems as the food rebels in his stomache. A life of gratitude to God, nature and other human beings is our greatest protection against disease and a foundation for health and happiness.
Is the advancement of technology compatible with environmental protection? God intended humans to develop technology to such a degree that we are to a large extent liberated from exhausting and tedious physical work, whether on the land or in factories. We would thus be liberated for tasks that would more completely utilise and develop our human potential, such as creative activities like art, music, scientific research and design, but also sport and leisure. We need more involvement of people in the education and health sectors and the liberation of families to care for children and the elderly. Modern economies demonstrate clearly the move away from physical labour (due to automation) and toward the “human” industries.
It is not inevitable that technological advancement destroy the environment. Energy, as the “blood supply” of technological civilization, can be produced in ways that do not cause any harm to the environment if intellectual and economic resources are invested accordingly. If scientists and politicians were deeply conscious of God’s intention for humans as loving stewards for His Creation, their direction of research and their political decisions would be in harmony with the protection of nature.
Technological development can go hand-in-hand with environmental protection. This is demonstrated by the rapid growth of the renewable energies industry as well as model projects in house construction, using environmentally friendly materials. If we researched thoroughly enough, we could also surely discover ways of producing only waste that can be recycled.
Even in our present economic system, which is so insensitive to nature and human beings, there is much room for us to act on the individual level. Both environment and human health would be improved by less meat consumption and less waste. If we thanked the Earth with every step we took and the air with every breath we breathed, our sensitivity to nature might be so sharpened that we would prefer to walk rather than make short car journeys. Scientists may be inspired to develop new ways of powering cars that harmonise with the environment. Our politicians may become enlightened to new ways of caring for the environment and become more aware of threats such as the genetic manipulation of human beings. Their thoughts, motivated by love, may go to the people of Africa, whose agricultural markets we are destroying through the export of subsidised European food.
People with large financial resources must realise that God blessed them and entrusted them with these not for themselves, but for the benefit all humanity. As the world’s population grows to a peak of over 9 billion people in 2050, resources on land will not sustain the human race; fish farms, developed in an ecological way, may be the only way to sustain the human race in future. Even now, tens of thousands of people die of hunger or malnutrition daily and that number is unfortunately increasing. For the rich economically developed countries, fish is a far more healthy food than meat. The improvement of our diet would help cut the billions of Euros of costs in our health system; the change of a mindset to one of living for others would help reduce stress by making our own problems look small in comparison to the problems of people whose very existence is threatened.
Of all created beings, only human beings are capable of fully responding to God and becoming His equal partners. As created beings, we are limited in many ways compared to God, but we can become His partners through the power of love, as love is the motivating force behind the creation of the Universe. Human love can attain divine dimensions. We are now living in the age where God is for the first time revealing His heart fully to the human race; we need to open up our minds for God, our original Parent. The solutions to all of our problems can be found in our Creator. Once we have understood those solutions, we certainly have the ability to put them into practice. This will impact not just nature and the environment, but will raise our families and social lives onto levels we have never dreamed of.
It is no coincidence that technology has recently been developing at a breathtaking pace. When we are connected to God who is the source of all wisdom and truth, technological development, when harmonised with environmental protection, will know no bounds and will lift all humanity out of poverty. We are destined to live as one huge body of humanity; that entire body shall be mobilised wherever any of its members are in need. When humans live in that way, God Himself will be liberated because His love will for the first time be able to flow freely in the Creation. Human beings can make this possible.
People often talk about their rights, but that is only acceptable if at the same time we consider the rights of other people, the rights of nature and even the rights of God, the Creator. Our Parent in Heaven created our spirit and body and bequeathed nature to us. He naturally has certain hopes and expectations of human beings, just as an artist would like to see his dream become reality through his works. God’s hopes include the creation of a new dimension of His love through couples and families, the unfolding of the full potential of each human being in a worldwide human family, and the satisfaction of nature’s need for loving caretakers. Considering that we receive God’s love and His Creation in return, doesn’t this sound like a perfect agreement?
By Mark Bramwell