LIFE IS FULL OF TESTS ... imagine one of our hunter-gather ancestors setting off with his mates to hunt for game. Perhaps it is over a week since they have made a kill. Should they fail today someone of their tribe may die from hunger. Or again... imagine our pioneer ancestors, in the 1850s, arriving at Split Rock in western Wyoming, on the way to the Pacific lands, and contemplating crossing the Rockies. If they dally, they will be overtaken by the harsh Winter. If they press on, snow storms may catch them in the mountain passes.
Perhaps you have faced a test in which, if you did not take precisely the correct action, you would not have lived to tell the tale. For my part, flying has presented several such moments when only good training stood in my stead and... here I am, still telling a tale or two.
Speaking of tests, the Bible begins with a great story of the 'ultimate test'. Biblical stories often contain profound metaphors and can still teach us much. In the second story of creation we see Man placed in a wonderful garden, full of delicious fruits. He is told, 'You may eat whatever you wish of these good things, except for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The day that you do so is the day you will certainly die.'
The point of this is that there may be some actions in the ''garden' (our world) that can put us in great peril. For most of our history, humans have been much at the mercy of events. We hardly thought that some things we do might profoundly affect the way the living world works. We are accustomed to think that nothing we do will matter in the long run.
Glenn's comment on a previous post is pertinent (referring to awareness of climate change) '...how one can translate that into enhanced national "awareness" is a challenge for all of to think about'.
Is this 'THE TEST'? The BIG one...the one we all have to pass?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment