#275 / A New Earth?

Pictured is an advertisement for an upcoming conference. I am sure that the conference organizers have good intentions. I am all in favor of "sustainable design," too.

But let's be clear. This advertisement reflects a profound confusion. There isn't going to be any "New Earth" this side of the Book of Revelation (see Revelation 27:1-7). The "Earth" is not a human creation. Human beings do design the world in which we most immediately live (and we can definitely benefit by employing principles of "sustainable design" as we create that human world). The Earth itself, however, is the world into which we are given, not a world we create ourselves, and the World of Nature is the world upon which we must ultimately depend. We are creatures, not creators, where the Earth is concerned.

Our confusion about the Two Worlds within which we live leads us to make bad choices. To the extent we actually think that we can "design" a "New Earth," we will be less likely to respect the Earth we have, and all its limits. Our failure to respect those limits is putting our own, human world at risk.

We are confused. Our lack of respect for the Earth is manifest. We do seem to think that we can create a "New Earth." To the extent we think that, we are wrong, and we are putting ourselves, and the human world we do create, in massive peril.