Nature & Other Gods

       I was ambling along the other day and came upon a decision that ached to be made. Right or left? Throwing caution to the wind and royally spiting Bob Frost, I chose the sidewalk to the left. I was walking to not think, but it didn't help. You've had those days. You know what I mean when I say "overwhelmed with thought." This was a walk to forget. At least, I thought it would be. In fact, it turned out to be even more thought provoking than I anticipated. 

       The road I live off of runs straight past the UN and the US Embassy, both of which demand heavy amounts of traffic. Therefore the road is always being worked on or added to, as well as being driven on and walked on by all those who are on there way from A to B. What I mean to say is, the presence of man is blaringly loud. What provoked me toward what I thought at the time was unwanted thought was the proximity of this human cacophony to the unbridled wilderness that grew a mere stones throw away from it.

       After you get past the houses, roadside shops/shacks, various government or UN buildings, there is a Forest. It's got waterfalls, fields, dirt, and countless trees. And it's smack dab in the middle of Nairobi. My thoughts had been racing back and forth that day between this and that and other things that you don't really need to know. The only times it would pause were when I was thinking of excellent camping trips I had been on that I had experienced peace and contentment. I was (and am) craving to be out in the wild again. There is something about being out there that settles my heart. My thoughts came to this place over and over, probably due to the reading I had done earlier where men were talking about nature in a way that could replace the divine. I began thinking about how some of my best times were in nature, how they weren't that far from the truth, and then I found myself walking toward a Forest that truly is a haven in the midst of all the world's problems. 

       Occasionally, I would catch glimpses of the trees through all the buildings, or I would watch water running under the road trying to get away from the noise of these incessant people. Eventually I took the turn toward the forest that stretched for a 1/4 of a mile toward the Forest. As I walked, men were gradually filtered out of hearing by the trees that became more and more dominant the closer I got to the heart of the Forest. I was already shedding my anxieties and feeling more peaceful. Nature has that way about it. I didn't go far into the Forest before I realized that the sun was setting and I was 40 min away from home. I was hungry. I went home.

       The next day I read Psalm 74. This one's not a David psalm. This one was written and sung when God was not the only god in Israel. People all around the poet Asaph were not worshipping God. Worse, they were degrading him and tearing down his sanctuary. Imaging a crazy LumberJack (Is there any other kind?) swinging away at a big ol' tree, and that's the image you're supposed to get from Asaph regarding how people were destroying God's sanctuary. These people are the enemies of God, the followers of lesser gods. Their prayers, their sacrifices were overwhelming Asaph to the point where he had to cry out to God. These people were bowing down to images of gods that they made themselves. Images that they saw in nature, sacrificing to them and praising them for the blessings that they hoped they would bring. And can you blame them? They knew that they weren't in control so they prayed to the stuff around them that looked like it was. They're Pagans, livin' it up Pagan style. What else could they do?

It is interesting that they would worship these gods of nature. Asaph has a better grasp of the situation than they, and states the ridiculousness of the situation by singing various truths about God:

13 It was you who split open the sea by your power; 
   you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. 
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan 
   and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert. 
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams; 
   you dried up the ever-flowing rivers. 
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night; 
   you established the sun and moon. 
17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; 
   you made both summer and winter.

       Who on earth are they praying to? Not the right God, that's for sure. God, why aren't you putting them in their place? Don't forget your people, your covenant. Don't ignore their noises, the noises of your enemies; those men revile you.

Asaph doesn't have a full grasp of the situation, though. He gets caught up in their misplaced worship and wants God to destroy them. He asks pleadingly, "Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!"

I took a walk beside a forest and practically worshipped it. Cool your jets, Asaph.

       I'm now sitting in the BlueSky offices, which are in the middle of a predominantly Hindu/Muslim building complex. Everyday, you can hear the Muslim call to prayer coming over the PA system in the wildly busy food court that surrounds the parking lot. On the way into the building, you pass a small temple to some small gods. The people here don't swing axes in their anger toward my God. They go the extra mile and tolerate him. Why destroy what you can degrade through toleration? They go home and sacrifice food to the small idols in their closets, or they roll out their prayer matt and pray to a God with no concept of grace. These people are the enemies of God. And some of them have become our friends.

Why do hold back your right hand, Lord? Why don't you just destroy them? Because you love them. 

       Anyone can fall to worshipping nature & other gods. You've put us here to show them the Truth. You've put us here to let them know that when they call out to whatever higher being they call to, that they're praying to the wrong gods. They yearn for the peace that only God can provide and they mess up when they try to find it. You put us here to help them find it. You've put us in the middle of a laughably non-Christian environment. Seriously, if any of you reading this make it out here, you'll know what I mean. It's the perfect spot to be a Christian.

So go take a walk in creation, think of the God who created it, and please keep praying for us. Make sure it's to the right God.