Such a lovely (and, I believe, vital) perspective! I often feel so overwhelmed by everything that needs to be "fixed" in this world. It seems like everywhere I turn, healing is drastically needed, and there just isn't anything I can do that will make any difference. Except, as you so beautifully put it, in my tiny corner. I feel this way about the world itself, but also the people in it. I can't do anything to heal the people. Except in my little corner, and especially in my home. This informs the way I treat my children, and the things I choose to teach them. There is only one of me, but there are five of them. If I can teach them to show love and respect, to go about doing good and standing up to wrong, well, that's five times more than I could do alone. "I fear no apocalypse, because in messages of despair I see only an invitation to tend to what I have been given. There is nothing more to do, and peace in letting go of what I cannot control." It's interesting to imagine what would happen if everyone let go of things out of their reach and instead tended to their own corner. If our energy was directed towards that which we can affect, and not launched at things that are beyond our realm of influence.
I appreciate the point you're trying to make, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created the Earth specifically FOR humanity, and that we are to use its resources however we see fit. Humans aren't merely God's guests on the Earth: we are its intended residents. Granted, we should be wise and responsible stewards of what God has gifted to us.
When Jesus talked about being in the world, but not of the world, He wasn't talking about the Earth specifically: He was talking about living faithfully as His servants within a fallen society. I don't think the Earth itself is evil or under Satan's control, but rather civilization as a whole.
I understand where you're coming from, Josh. I'm not implying that somehow we are not "at home" here, since this absolutely our home. The use of the term "guest" has more to do with the respect that we should have for what we've been given. In the end, it doesn't really belong to us. As stewards, we are temporary rulers. Someday it will be returned to the rightful King, and we will be asked to account for how we handled it.
Thank you for re-sharing. Something to consider, for sure--"the world" as God's Creation instead of something pitted against Him. So good.
Such a lovely (and, I believe, vital) perspective! I often feel so overwhelmed by everything that needs to be "fixed" in this world. It seems like everywhere I turn, healing is drastically needed, and there just isn't anything I can do that will make any difference. Except, as you so beautifully put it, in my tiny corner. I feel this way about the world itself, but also the people in it. I can't do anything to heal the people. Except in my little corner, and especially in my home. This informs the way I treat my children, and the things I choose to teach them. There is only one of me, but there are five of them. If I can teach them to show love and respect, to go about doing good and standing up to wrong, well, that's five times more than I could do alone. "I fear no apocalypse, because in messages of despair I see only an invitation to tend to what I have been given. There is nothing more to do, and peace in letting go of what I cannot control." It's interesting to imagine what would happen if everyone let go of things out of their reach and instead tended to their own corner. If our energy was directed towards that which we can affect, and not launched at things that are beyond our realm of influence.
I appreciate the point you're trying to make, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created the Earth specifically FOR humanity, and that we are to use its resources however we see fit. Humans aren't merely God's guests on the Earth: we are its intended residents. Granted, we should be wise and responsible stewards of what God has gifted to us.
When Jesus talked about being in the world, but not of the world, He wasn't talking about the Earth specifically: He was talking about living faithfully as His servants within a fallen society. I don't think the Earth itself is evil or under Satan's control, but rather civilization as a whole.
I understand where you're coming from, Josh. I'm not implying that somehow we are not "at home" here, since this absolutely our home. The use of the term "guest" has more to do with the respect that we should have for what we've been given. In the end, it doesn't really belong to us. As stewards, we are temporary rulers. Someday it will be returned to the rightful King, and we will be asked to account for how we handled it.