Scope & Perspective
August 27, 2008
My four-year old, Danny, and my seven-year old, Amanda, were recently having a discussion about creation. They had been playing in the back yard when Danny very authoritatively declared, “I bet that there is about a thousand pill bugs in the whole world.” Amanda, being far more worldly wise, said, “Naw, probably about a thousand million.”
As I listened to them I realized that they had almost no sense of scale. Scope and perspective were lacking. But the more I thought about it the more I realized how fundamentally similar and childlike our adult perspective tends to be.
It is very hard for us to visualize the impact of 6.7 billion people on the world. Or the difference of a few degrees in temperature, or the loss of 13 million hectares of forest a year. As individuals, our estimates of what these numbers mean vary widely, and tend to be tied to our personal experiences; an early cold snap and those in the midst of it tend to say, “So much for global warming.”
Over the years I have read and heard some pretty strange assessments of environmental issues. Population is not an issue, for example, because 6 billion people could fit, standing up, in the state of Rhode Island. Or “climate change is going to help us because it will extend the growing season in the north.”
I admit too, that my own assessment of the state of our planet is based far too much on personal experience. In my work with Floresta, helping the poor and promoting reforestation in badly deforested, heavily degraded regions, I tend to see primarily broken-down environments that will no longer support people. It is easy to get discouraged and sometimes hard to see the big picture.
Thus, about ten years ago, I was happy to be taking a vacation in the Canadian Rockies. As I told my wife, “I think I need to go someplace where the environment is not unraveling. I have seen enough of that for a while.”
I quickly learned that in spite of their awe-inspiring beauty, the mountains were troubled by a host of serious human induced environmental issues, ranging from mountain pine beetle infestations to invasive species to over development. Every year since, I have been looking for that spot where I can rest and enjoy what God has created, without the sickness that we have brought. I am still looking. Sadly, I have concluded that pristine doesn’t really exist anymore. Creation, though still beautiful and still evidence of the Creator, also bears constant witness to our poor stewardship and narcissism.
I am confident that my view remains skewed. However, trying to get a more objective view, through study and scientific reports has led me to believe that ours is a world in deep trouble, with many of our life support systems on the verge of breaking down. One is tempted to despair, or that very least conclude that the problem is too big. Yet yielding to that temptation ignores both the sovereignty of God, who still holds us in the palm of His hand, and the fact that He has called us to participate in His plan of redemption for all of Creation. As I continually have to remind myself, “This is my Father’s world” and as the song says, “He is the ruler yet.”
Scott Sabin is the Executive Director of Floresta USA, a Christian organization that works to combat deforestation and poverty in seven countries around the world. He and his wife Nancy live with their children Amanda (7) and Danny (4) in San Diego and have been involved in Creation Care for 16 years.
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