The United States of America holds some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring sights people could behold. While my favorites have always included the Pacific Northwest, yours could be Glacier National Park, Niagara Falls, Garden of the Gods, Gulf of Mexico or the Kona Coast. Once you catch a glimpse of these places, you almost feel like God has opened a window into heaven where we witness his majesty, or you wonder if the Garden of Eden was anything like what we’ve seen.
But the beautiful, heavenly-like places are in danger as the damage caused by humanity’s careless and calloused footprint threatens its very existence. Trash by campers and hikers ignoring the “Leave No Trace” plea eventually deface the value of the beauty we’re drawn to. Careless and reckless actions, like setting off fireworks in wooded areas or failure to monitor a campfire, has burned forests to the ground. From oil spills to industrial runoff the waterways have been contaminated. The lack of respect shown to the land has continued to devalue the beauty before us.
During the summer of 1987, my brother and I spent the holiday weekend at Alabama Gulf Coast. One of the things I remember the most was the number of glass beer bottles floating in the ocean waters. Was it an accident? Probably not as numerous bottles were floating in the waters. Even thirty plus years later, I can’t get my head wrapped around such indifference to the environment. Why trash the Land that I Love?
I’m not sure I can answer that question, but maybe the physical picture of the “land that I love,” is a reflection of the spiritual element. The land is trashed because our own lives have been trashed. We don’t respect the land before us because we don’t respect ourselves and each other. So we speak with hateful, demeaning and dehumanizing words, while justifying it in the process.
Words matter. They can hurt people or help heal them. They can destroy someone’s confidence or build them up. They can be used either to backstab or to protect one’s backside. They can be like salt water or like fresh water. They can curse our fellow man or glorify God (see Jas. 3:9-12). Words are an expression of our spiritual vitality.
Jesus says that what we say emerges from our hearts (Mk. 7:20-23). Just listen long enough to the words people say to each other. If they are filled with kindness, compassion and generosity then their hearts are pure. If you’re like me, you’ve probably got your fill of the disrespect, vile and demonizing language being not only freely used but also even being rationalized. And the result is the “Land” is devolving into nothing more than a cesspool of our own verbal excrement.
If you find yourself sick of the trash, then it’s time to clean it up. I’m not addressing the “swearing” or “cussing” though we could discuss that too. I’m talking about the cruel way we speak of each other, and about people in general. Stop using such language. Stop believing others are “speaking their minds” when they’re revealing their hearts. Stop buying into the lie that words don’t matter. It’s trashing our society, our community, our churches and destroying the Land that I Love.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)