It is not a Perfect World

Recently the headline in Vancouver’s major newspaper said 70% of the people surveyed in British Columbia believe that humans will destroy the world as we know it within two or three generations.

I have shared these fears since I was a young child. Whether we destroy the world in a big bang by nuclear war; or by some slower method like depleting all the forests and oceans; or by simply polluting the land and the atmosphere by our filthy disregard for our planet, hardly matters.

Some say this danger is due to our colossal ignorance, so better education could save us. Others think we are fundamentally flawed and evil, so we need moral regeneration. The most pessimistic believe that humanity’s capacity for evil, (whether personal or corporate) knows no bounds, so that we are fatally bent on self-destruction.

My study of history suggests that things are not much worse today than a thousand years ago, or ten thousand years ago, except that our ability to do harm (to the earth and to each other) has grown immensely. But fortunately, we also have mostly stopped being cannibals, which is a fairly recent development. Slavery was outlawed only in the last two centuries, and the concept of universal human rights is a virtually new political concept, hardly known in previous centuries. Humanity has improved in some respects.

I am neither an extreme pessimist, nor a total optimist. Humans have certainly demonstrated their capacity for violence and destruction: in our homes, on the streets, by business methods, by unceasing warfare, and by ecological destruction. But since none of this is new, I am not terrified. Only the universal media coverage of our inhumane tendencies is really new.

But though the world is far from perfect, it is beautiful beyond any poet’s ability to describe. My little property at the base of a mountain has trees, flowers, shrubs and wildlife (even visiting black bears) that are exquisitely beautiful, even in the rainy winter months. The beach near our house has such immensely lovely scenes that one almost cries with delight and happiness! So the world is both lovely beyond description and also flawed by the presence of humans everywhere.

A young man told me recently that he does not believe in God because of all the evil in our world. My response to him was that in creating a world where human beings had free will to choose actions and attitudes, God indirectly permitted evil because people might choose to act violently, cruelly, and destructively. On the other hand He also thus allowed humans freedom to save lives, to write symphonies, to invent submarines, or to teach philosophy. This free will is mostly a good thing; without choice, we would be limited like animals or robots. The young man responded that he would rather we had no choice. It is certainly true that choice involves risk. The Creator has elevated the state of humans far beyond animals to be more like gods; our creative capacity for both good and evil is truly incredible.

One of my reasons for believing in a Higher Power is the evident design of the world about us. It seems inconceivable to me that this world has evolved by pure chance alone. Take the behavior of water, as an example. Water is a necessary exception to the universal pattern of constant shrinking of all the basic chemical elements as they grow colder. (These elements include copper, hydrogen, mercury, sulfur, gold, silver, etc.) They all grow colder when they change from a gas state to a liquid; as they get colder still, they become solids.

But fortunately water does not follow this universal tendency; it alone expands when it becomes a solid, or else our lakes and oceans would gradually freeze solid, starting from the bottom up, and the entire planet would soon be covered with ice! One little exception was needed from a consistent pattern in the laws of nature to make life on this planet possible. The very existence of our amazing planet with just the right temperatures, just the right amount of oxygen, just the right sort of vegetation amidst millions of inhospitable spheres shows the hand of an intentional designer.

I delight in the delicate beauty of all nature: in the ocean, the trees, plants, animals, sky, and with stars and galaxies beyond, all swirling in endless beauty. The Creator God gives me hope for the future of our imperfect world.

However imperfect this world may seem at times, it is also infinitely lovely.