THE BROADCASTING STATION

Life is like a rack of glasses: messy, fragile and always needs to be washed clean from all dirt.

George Washington Carver observed, "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." But it is sometimes hard to hear the message when it is broadcast by equipment that is dirty, corroded and abused. Carver was born 150 years ago, before we used terms like toxic waste, air pollution, global warming and deforestation. Today, we have figured out that we need to take good care of the broadcasting station if we are to hear what the Divine is saying.

This is a beautiful and fragile planet we live on. As much as we can fall in love with magnificent sunsets and pristine landscapes, few people have ever experienced its beauty as acutely as those who've seen it from afar.

Senator Jake Garn was one of those privileged people. He observed earth aboard Discovery Space Shuttle and wrote of that experience in "Parade Magazine" (11-3-85). "I know now what if feels like to be out of this world," he said. "The experience is exhilarating, breathtaking, awesome. No. Those words aren't strong enough; space flight is indescribable." Listen to these words from his space diary:

"I was overcome by the beauty of the earth below. I don't
think the words exist to convey what it's like to see the earth
from space. The curve of the earth, the swirling eddies, the
patterns of clouds marbling the surface above the brilliantly
blue color of the water and the blue-green of the land…the
sheer beauty of the earth and the excitement of being in a
position to see it made this the greatest experience of my life.
Using binoculars, I once counted 22 discernible layers of blue
in the band of sunrise color that would be seen from earth
simply as blue…"

This is indeed a beautiful and fragile planet. But it's changing. And we humans are the cause of much of it. George Burns once quipped, "I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty." All right, he lived to be 100, but we can bring those days of clean air back. We can
live simply and responsibly. We can walk gently upon the face of the earth.

And with our broadcasting station once again in good order, I think I know what we'll hear God saying: "Thank you."

From Lifesupport.