Nature and Man

“Nature shall take care of itself,” is a philosophy that
many ascribe to. Nature is self-creating and no one can resist it. Man too is a
product of nature. Just how profound is the call of nature? In Poland, my
parents had a garden that made the provincial papers. My wife and I purchased a
woody place that was like a jungle. My brother came to visit and within a month
he had cleared passages for walks. Less than a year later, the jungle returned.
I made the mistake of trusting nature to keep the walks open. I lived in a dorm
while I attended school. A young person was brought in that had not been
exposed to city living, and he proved to be an embarrassment.

Why am I concerned with something that comes naturally?
Uncontrolled and unmanaged nature, whether it is animal, human or plant is
destructive. Human desire or impulses, when left unattended, will lead to acts
of violence against others, like child-molestation, sexual perversion and even
murder. There are two nature men in the Book of Genesis, chapter four, Cain and
Lamech. Cain slew his brother and Lamech killed two men and took their wives.
Both men exercised no self-restraint. Without restraint, even heroes like David
committed adultery and murder. It was tragic because David already had guidelines
like the Ten Commandments. Even Adam and Eve were commanded to manage the
environment and not to indulge in sensualities. Nature is driven by impulses
and man is to be guided by reason. 

Nature has no mind or a control center. According to the
Biblical creation account, man is not part of nature. He was designed to be the
control center of nature. Nature depends on man to use good managing skills. My
first twenty-one years, I lived on the land. From my father, I learned where to
plant different crops on different land and during different seasons. The land
had to be fertilized and well prepared and the crops had to be cared for. We
hoed, weeded and collected bugs; yes bugs that killed potatoes. Every farmer
took care of his fields and holdings. Some had too much property and not enough
help and the results were always the same. Nature brought back its jungle and
to reclaim that land proved difficult. Weeds drain the land of its nourishment
just as much as a crop or more. Even the land that rested had to be plowed and
turned to stop nature from taking over.

The problem with our world is that the control center or reasoning power is collapsing. Man is not progressing but regressing in his ability to manage. He is not evolving but devolving. Recently some historical expert was telling us that we got our Democratic Republic form the Greeks. A contemporary depicted the Greeks as belly worshippers (Phil.3:19). Plato’s Republic was not even a shadow of what we have. They were somatics or body builders and followed their feelings or impulses. They lacked what the Apostle Paul called pneumatism (I Cor.2:14-15). It is the spiritual ability that accompanies reason in discerning, judging and managing oneself, others and the environment. In Biblical terms, it is the image of God that is being tarnished. And without that image or pneuma (spirit), man is no more than an animal and a true child of nature. The unfortunate fact is that even Christians have not progressed beyond the natural man (I Cor.3:1). And if Christians that are natural shall one day judge the world, what shall we expect of a natural man only? (I Cor.6:2-3). Is it any wonder that things appear a bit chaotic or sort of natural?