NATURE AND MANKIND - SPIRITUAL CONNECTION?

My juices got to flowing this time. My friend Joe wrote about his thoughts on our connection with nature a while ago. Its an idea that has been boucing off the brain cells over the past two or three years. Time eliminated immediate attention to the subject until he wrote this post. If you would like to read what he wrote, go to the blog list on the left hand side of the page and click on Joe Staub. You will find the article under the title "Wilderness Connection." What I have written is in response to this posting. Thanks Joe for getting the juices going once again.

Romans 8:22-23 says “We know that the WHOLE creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 says, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, …For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”

Although there is not a lot directly mentioned in Scripture concerning this issue, I believe enough is said to seriously consider what exactly the connection is that we have, and not just to leave it at the idea all of creation and mankind have been created from dust. From the verses above both creation and ourselves groan for something other than what is being experienced on this earth. Groaning usually takes place because of an awareness at some level that there is pain, discomfort, or it could mean a longing for fulfillment. Romans 8:22-23 seems to suggest that creation and mankind share in a groaning for the redemption that is to come at Jesus’ second-coming.

As humans, we are aware of the pain, sufferings, and injustice that exist in our world. We long for them to cease, we long to enter into the redemptive world of God’s kingdom in our new bodies. However, without stretching this too far, is not creation at some level aware of the same effects of sin? Creation groans out of a longing for death and suffering to cease, and for the return of a perfect creation given by its perfect Creator. This would imply that creation groans in a conscious state. The conscious state may not be at our human level of understanding, but it is an instinctive awareness that things are not right. The fact that creation groans at all suggests another dimension to the creation world. But why not? Animals have a sense of death and pain. Instinctively they run from predators out of their fear of death. They protect themselves from death. Even living by the survival of the fittest laws, requires some awareness at some level, even if it is the most basic and crude kind. There is language and communication that is purposeful and unique to each species, and even dialects within certain species. There is nurture that takes place. All of this suggests that there is a consciousness that exists within creation at some level. Plant life has an inate ability to respond. It responds to nourishment and nurture, whether administered or not. Plant life does not seem to exhibit the same aspects in its activity as that which exists within the animal world, but they are responders and a part of all of creation that groans. And yet how could plant life groan as a part of all creation if there was not some level of awareness or longing for the redemptive world to come? Animal life has been given brains, brains are meant to be used to make choices, to engage the senses, and to respond. The conclusion that can be made is that creation acquires a third dimension. Is it a spiritual dimension? If so, how does creation’s spirituality fit into our human understanding of spirituality?Human spirituality is conscious of something greater outside ourselves that exists within this world. There is a sense of morality tied to our spiritualism. A sense of justice resides in this dimension, a sense of purpose in our existence. Rationalization, discussion, opinions, ideas, all of these are included in the understanding of our spiritual state. This level of conscious awareness of spirituality does not exist with the rest of creation.

Yet we do share so much in common.
Nurture, Survival, Character, Groaning for what is to come, Communication,Behavior, A sense of existence and death

Is the groaning or longing that is felt in the souls of men the same kind of groaning God speaks of within creation? That possibility that we share a common thread in our spirituality with creation reaches beyond realms that to many are uncomfortable to consider. The groaning suggest a conscious awareness of the results or affects of sin and death with an eternal perspective in mind. How is it that creation, apart from mankind attains this level of awareness, unless God forces creation to groan in such a manner. I cannot believe that God would do such a thing. How far does creation’s awareness reach? Is this the level at which we are so closely tied to creation; a spiritual level rather than physical? Yet, we are tied to creation through the same physical make-up which is dust.

It appears creation and humans are spiritually and physically connected in a binding relationship. This then brings up a couple of other topics to discuss: 1. Why are some more drawn to nature than to others? Why do some detest being out in nature or maybe do not detest, but really don’t care either? Is this a statement of their own personal spiritual level and awareness? 2. How was sin transferred to creation through one human being? If mankind (men and women) existed as the only source of any spiritual make-up, then sin would not have affected creation except only through our treatment of it. We did not teach animals how to kill or how to protect themselves from death, which is a result of sin entering the WHOLE world. But, if we share a spiritual connection with creation, and sin is a spiritual concept with physical consequences, it is conceivable to think that through this spiritual connection, a conscious awareness of death and the longing for redemption at different levels exist within both creation and mankind. If this is so, then other belief systems are not out in left field in their claims that there exists a spiritual element within creation. I would not agree that creation exists as gods to be worshipped and I would not agree with reincarnation theories. But can we truly state against their claims that creation is spiritual and that we are closely connected to nature both spiritually and physically?

THUNDERSTORMS

A fly on our wall two weekends ago might tell a story of the largest thunderstorm I have experienced since a camping trip at Olive Lake in Eastern Oregon, year 2006. A symphony exists within a thunderstorm, a symphony of sounds along with the rises, falls, and fading away of the roars, rain, wind, and even the sounds of birds singing. The day began quietly, overcast, but pleasant. About noon the rain began to fall and we could hear the pitter patter of the drops as they fell on the sidewalk outside our front door and against the window panes of the house. Then we heard the wind begin to pick up in its intensity, looked out and saw the darkness of the clouds as they traveled our direction, carried by the wind. Streaks of lightening suddenly appeared in the skies announcing the thunder that would soon follow. Before long there was a symphony which included the leaves loudly rustling as they blew against one another, the rain pelting the ground below it, and the low rumble of the thunder far off, like it was the cello and bass section adding to the suspense of the music. As if playing a great symphony composed by Beethoven and conducted by a great musician the symphony began to climax this glorious piece. The thunder rolled and I, as the audience, enjoyed the boom and crash of nature's drums and cymbals. The strings picked up speed as the wind in the trees grew louder, and the rain pelted harder and faster as if they were the bells being played with what might seem to be no sense of of order within the piece itself. And yet, the movement of all the instruments and the music itself worked together to create a masterpiece. The kettle drums of thunder faded away, the violins and violas of wind became a gentle breeze, and the bells softly ringing as rain drops as they quietly fell brought a sense of resolution and peace. This rise and fall of music continued for at least an hour. At times the drums of thunder boomed so loudly it shook the ground and the house. The music settled down a bit allowing for the flutes to sing in the form of birds singing amidst the storm. The music began to swell and the thunder began to roll in again, but this time a little further off and the birds continued to sing. This masterpiece finally ended with the gentle breezes, birds singing at the top of their lungs, rain quietly falling, and a double rainbow adorning the skies above against a sky that slowly turned blue once again. One of these days, perhaps I will find a way to create a musical masterpiece that tells the story of my thunderstorm.Raindrops fell on the camera lens, but the rainbow still came through. Please click on the link to view a few photos of the symbol God gave many generations ago to Noah, never to destroy the earth again until that final day. This day will end the symphony of life as we know it on earth. Until then, each of our lives is an instrument, adding to God's musical masterpiece of life through His whole creation.