A sense of awe

[hoppy]

A Sense of Awe

"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things."

Isa 40:26 NKJV

G.K. Chesterton wrote: "The world is not lacking in wonders, but in a sense of wonder."

It's said that if the earth were as small as the moon its gravitation wouldn't sustain our needs. On the other hand, if it were as large as Jupiter its extreme gravitation would make human movement almost impossible. If we were as close to the sun as Venus the heat would be unbearable; if we were as far away as Mars every region would experience snow and ice nightly. If the oceans were half their size we'd get only 25 percent of our present rainfall; if they were one-eighth larger, annual precipitation would increase 400 percent, turning the earth into a vast uninhabitable swamp. Water solidifies at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. But if the oceans were subject to that law, the amount of thawing in the polar regions wouldn't balance out and we'd all end up encased in ice. To prevent this, God put salt in the sea to alter its freezing point. How's that for a day's work?

The Psalmist wrote: "How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all...I will sing praise to my God as long as I live" (Ps 104:24-33 NIV).

If God's workmanship wouldn't make you praise Him and want to know Him better, what would?

John Stott said: "Our greatest claim to nobility is our created capacity to know God, to be in personal relationship with Him, to love Him and to worship Him. Indeed, we are most truly human when we are on our knees before our creator."

[yaaarrrgg]

I agree it's all in a fragile balance. Though I think you are looking at this picture upside down. The Earth is not made for us, of course. We evolved to live within the current environment, not the other way around. But it's true that if conditions are slightly different, life as we know it would be radically different or perhaps non-existent. It should give one pause before doing anything that radically alters the environment.

What's puzzling to me though is why a lot of religious conservatives in the U.S. think the Earth is indestructible, and almost work to abuse it.