Doves On Distant Oaks

On Subduing the Earth

Many years ago, I stumbled upon an article written by a gentleman named Robert Selle, called On Subduing the Earth. The article originally appeared in American Forests in December 1983. The author had written a letter as if it were from God to humans on what he described as God's land ethic. While no one can truly speak for God, I found it to be illuminating. In honor of God and the Earth he gave us, I've included portions of that letter to show that God's divine land ethic supersedes all of man's environmental ethics

The Bible is basically a work that speaks of man's relationship to God and to his fellow men. Yet you can still find numerous clues as to how I regard my earth. Look at my divine care for the birds, and how beautifully I clothe the wildflowers (Matthew 6). Examine my concern for agricultural land, and how I commanded my Jewish children to give the earth a complete rest every seventh year, to let the soil lie fallow (Leviticus 25). Consider how I make the springs to flow so the wild animals can drink and the nearby trees be nourished (Psalm 104).

Yes, I appointed man to be ruler over everything that I have made. I placed him over all creation (Psalm 8), but I continually have hoped the he would use this earth to honor my greatness, not as a monument to his own greed and pettiness. I made trees to be used, certainly, in a creative and appreciative way. Olive trees give oil, fig trees give fruit, grapevines produce wine, and thornbuses offer shade. This honors me and benefits you (Judges 9: 7-13). I delight that some trees are used for medicine, cosmetics, gracefull ships, balms, paper, food, warmth, hedges that fence a field, and even the walls of a church. I am happy that other trees are preserved as a den for my raccoon, a nest for the pileated. I am pleased that you sit in the shade of another for thought and meditation, and that you save a twisted and ostensibly worthless grandfather of the forest to remind you of life's lessons.

My divine land ethic can be summarized in two words: loving use. I have always meant for land to be used wisely for the good of humanity and for the glory of God. If the use of a plot of ground fulfills these two conditions, that's great! I recognize that sometimes, the world being what it is, the well-intentioned human may be caught in a no-win situation as he attempts to use land in a healthy fashion. Centuries of injustice and greed have made solutions complicated at best, occasionally impossible.

... The means to a discerning land ethic is the same means toward a happy life; justice, wisdom, sharing, mercy, love. There is no law against these things, and if they are consistently applied, the questions of proper land use would not even arise, for there would then be no hunger or hate, no waste or wastelands, no pollution or tears. (But now I am straying to a different topic: Heaven).

If you would permit a piece of fatherly advice, if you are one of those concerned citizens who looks around and despairs over the foolhardy contamination and waste of air and water, marsh and woodland, soil and sea, don't try to change the whole world. First, change yourself. And if you need help, remember that I'm here.

I couldn't have said it any better.

The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.

– Leviticus 25:23-24

Keywords: Earth, Land, Ethic, Use

Comment publicly to Writing.com community below,
or comment privately to: [e-mail]