Aug 01, 2016

 

God is Love (33)

                   1 John 4:8

Love Never Fails (2)

                                     1 Corinthians 13

 

The state of the World

 

How can I, in clear conscious, state that the love of God never fails, given the sad state of the world at the present time? If God loves us, why is the world not peaceful, all living with all basic needs met, and all to be functioning at a reasonable level? Why are some born with dysfunctional bodies, all types of differences that hinder life, various sexual orientations that are part of the genetic makeup, and so many other maladies of body and spirit?

 

All because God truly loves us, and has given us all the tools necessary to function not only well, but exceedingly well. We have all the tools necessary: we can feed the world, we can clothe the world, and all could have a basic standard of life that includes shelter, food, water, and sanitation. We can accept those different from ourselves, and work to provide means to help those who have physical shortcomings compared to ourselves.

 

We can do these things, if we desire to do them.

 

But God has given us the freedom to reject that opportunity, and over the past 70,000 years we have been growing ever so slowly towards the direction of fulfilling that promise – but we have so much more to do to reach that level of maturity. We are still children, bent upon having our own way in the world. God has sent his prophets to encourage us to fulfill our destiny, (read Mathew 25 for the Christian viewpoint, or the sermon on the mount), and given us guidance and help. We are slowly, oh so slowly, making progress towards meeting those goals. Even over the short period of the past 100 years so much progress has been made in eradicating disease, outright starvation and extreme poverty, but we have so much more to accomplish.

 

The August 2016 issue of Consumer Reports discusses how our nation wastes over 50% of its available food through spoilage, and also discusses ways to overcome that waste. Homeowners are the largest contributors to that waste, wasting 43% of the food we purchase. Supermarkets, restaurants, institutional and food services, and government waste another 40% of the available food.

 

Food is only one of items we waste or fail to use to help our world. But

God gave us the means to counter these wastes. Buy only what you use. Plan better to not buy waste. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a goal to lower the nations food waste by 50% by 2030. Progress is being made, for that reduction would permit feeding more of the world’s hungry, help conserve the world’s water supply, and save energy used to grow and distribute the wasted food.

 

Each of us has the power to help. True, we cannot personally send food to the hungry, but we can support the efforts by many organizations working to alleviate the many problems of the world. We can reduce our waste of everything, and help to conserve the goods that our Loving God has given us for our blue ball to exist.

 

If only we have eyes to see, and the will to carry it out.

 

What is our response?

 

What is your response?

 

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

                   Psalm 42: 2

 

Meditation

 

My Living Wisdom, you have filled my life with wonders and joy and hope. I ask that You continue to guide us into the future, showing us how to reach that paradise on this beautiful planet of ours that we find ourselves. You have surrounded us with beauty and glory. You give us sunshine and warmth. You moderate our climate to fit our frail bodies. You encourage life in abundance and we revel in all that we see. I am grateful for your opening our eyes to see the abundance of our world, and to work to conserve that abundance for all to share. I know you have given us all we need, and am grateful for the rise of response in so many of our peoples on this planet. Your Love for us is manifold in the unfolding of the gifts of friends and family, of the love that flows around us and in us, encouraging us to see Your Love in all that reveals itself to us. We ask Your aid on moving our world in love and revealing Your presence in the hidden and small places of our planet.

 

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