Contents

1. Foreword: What will become of our blue planet Earth? Will we be out of air soon? Are we sinking into our own mire? Will there be wars fought in the future over adequate supplies of drinking water?.....

2. Preface: This book has been in the making for more than thirty years. It started with fascination for the concepts introduced in Francis Schaeffer's "Pollution and the Death of Man".

3. Introduction: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He, therefore, who is not illumined by such great splendor of created things is blind; he who is not awakened by such great clamor is deaf; he who does not praise God because of all these effects is dumb; he who does not note the first principle from such great signs is foolish.

4. Beginning with Creation: "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous". Our God is the God of Heaven and Earth, of sea and river, of sun and moon and stars, of the lofty mountain and lowly valley.

5. Covenant: Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven (Rabindranath Tagore). If the Holy Spirit is 'poured out' on the whole creation, then he creates the community of all created things with God and with each other, making it that fellowship of creation in which all created things communicate with one another and with God, each in its own way.

6. Israel and God's Land: The land that God has chosen at one particular time in history for one particular people is now perceived as a paradigm, a model, for God's concern for every people and every land. As God commanded the Israelites to obey God's laws in their life in the land, so God, demands the same from all peoples in their lands.

7. What does the New Testament Say ?: We know that the whole creation itself has been groaning as in the pains of children right up to the present time. Creator of the universe, watch over us and keep us in the light of your presence. May our praise continually blend with that of all creation, until we come together to the eternal joys which you promise in your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

8. Relationships Matter: Most people are on the world, not in it-have no conscious sympathy, or relationship to anything about them - undiffused, seperate and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching, but seperate.
   Not to hurt our humble brethern (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission: to be of service to them whenever they require it.

9. Equity and Justice: There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed (Mahatma Gandhi). Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all people are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all contries - not until then shall be, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of humankind as civilized.

10. Stewardship of the Environment: When you plan a tree, never plant only one. Plant three - one for shade, one for fruit, one for beauty (African proverb). "We aspire to a world in which human beings care wisely and humbly for all creatures, first and foremost for their fellow human beings, recognizing their proper place in the created order.