Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Destroying The Oceans

Photo by Pr. Judy Mattson
What Kind Of Stewards Are We?
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Gen 1:28 KJV)

Watching the television documentary series "Drain The Oceans" the last couple of days has caused me a bit; no a lot, of concern over the way humankind has not been very good stewards of any of God's creation. It seems apparent that wars occur for no reason other than one person or a small group of people are greedy for wealth or power or both and have no problem with multitudes dying so that they can get what they want. They also don't seem to give any forethought to destroying the oceans or any living creature or plant that depends on water to live.  

I could not help but wonder how it is that submarines were invented and used during the Civil War; way before automobiles were even invented! Motivation to destroy others; to get wealth and or power over others seems to be a really strong motivation to get things accomplished.

It was devastating to see how many ships lie at the bottom of the oceans because of war. It was devastating to consider how many lives were lost because kings and queens and all sorts of other rulers wanted to rule the world.

I had totally forgotten about the testing of nuclear bombs during the Cold War. Testing in the Pacific Ocean; blowing up ships and islands as well as burying the nuclear waste in the ocean! I could not help but wonder how far the radiation had spread not just in the air; but, in the oceans. How far did the currents carry the garbage? What kind of effect did it have on the created life that exists in the ocean. After being bombed at the test site, the USS Independence was towed into the San Francisco harbor so that the Navy could study nuclear decontamination. It was later towed out about 30 miles so that it would sink out of everyone's sight and not in the harbor. I am certainly not an expert and that may be why I get concerned over stuff that I can only view as detrimental to not only human life; but, of all life. 

Then there were those four nuclear missiles that the United States accidently dropped on Spain in 1966. Three were found on land. The fourth was eventually found and retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea. How does that even happen!  How much nuclear garbage is hidden in our oceans left by the United States and Russia during the Cold War? 

After each day of creation God saw what He created and declared that it was good. When He created humankind He said it was very good. He gave us dominion over all that He created. I am pretty sure that by giving us dominion that He meant for us to take care of all that He created and not to destroy it.  If we destroy it there will be nothing left to have dominion over! 

Greed for wealth and power have been destructive forces in our world since the very beginning. May God help us to think a whole lot more before we do things that will further damage our world; before we destroy each other. Let us consider the consequences before we act on our impulses.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

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