I guess this is a difficult subject to talk about. Many people may think I’m going off the deep end with this one, but hear me out.
I have been thinking a lot lately about The Fall (of Man) and the progression of life since then. Prior to The Fall, God’s creation relied on Him solely. God envisioned a world where man and beast lived together in harmony. All creatures were to have a herbivore diet and respect one another. After the fall that is where we begin to see civilization take shape. People began to till the land and build places of dwelling. People began to govern themselves and rely on this system rather than on God. People built up cities and towers to reach God (Tower of Babel). Eventually even Israel sold out and demanded a king (1 Samuel 8). The progression of society spun out of control.
The prophets (Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah) were quick to point out the hypocrisy of the Jews and how they ultimately have rejected God as their leader in place of systematic worship and sacrifice. Isaiah walked around naked and preached a anti-imperial message of warning towards the people.
Jesus was persecuted by his own people for not following their hypocritical approach to worshiping God. The empire rejected him and saw him as a threat to the powers that be, King Herod was so apt on killing him even as an infant. For the next 1600 years or so, after the death of Jesus civilization did not advance all that much. Empires came and fell. This was of course until colonization spread throughout the world.
Moving forward, The 20th century saw a huge technological explosion. Even these first few years of the 21st century have drastically changed. Technology seems to be making out lives easier and easier. After all, I can post this message on my laptop running on a battery picking up wireless internet signal. The i-phone creates an mp3 player, computer, and cellular telephone in a single device. But is technology really making our lives more simple, or is it taking away from our reliance on God?
I have been roaming the streets of South Philadelphia since I have moved here and have been paying attention to the people around me. I see girls jump-roping in the streets. Kids playing in open fire hydrants and adolescents playing basketball. It just seems so 1990s, and it’s beautiful. When I am home in Wilmington, I rarely see kids outside. I’m sure many of them are inside playing video games or sitting in front of a computer screen social networking through myspace. I mean it just seems we are loosing our face to face communication today and trading it for a superficial form of networking. What ever happen to sharing a dinner together with friends or spending an evening with family without having to be plastered to the television.
My theory is that as society advances technologically and in civilization, our lives become more superficial. Our lives are not becoming easier, but are becoming more complex. I am really coming to realize that this development is the opposite of God’s plan. My longing for a more naturalist or return to Eden worldview reflects my longing for the Kingdom of God where every living creature will rely on YHWH alone. Where beast and man will one day again live in harmony.
I feel that my cynical outlook towards the government as savior can be far stronger than most anarchists’ view, as I would definitely consider myself a primitivist. Now why am I only a primitivist in theory and not in practice? Am I too scared to give up my comfortable life to go live in the wild. Is this even possible for somebody who has been spoiled. I bet I couldn’t even grow food in a garden with success if I tried. (And I am planning on trying this soon!). Why am I to teach in a system that creates a chasm between the rich and the poor and does not rely on God alone? I feel that our longing for YHWH is squandered by our extremely busy schedules where we do not take the time to reflect on His creation. We are so far removed from the natural state of the world. I often feel that complacency and ‘development’ or ‘progress’ is the worst of sins.
I feel mostly alone in the way I see things especially in 21st century American society. I have a difficult time articulating what I believe to others because it just sounds ridiculous. Jesus is Lord has deep political meaning as it applies Jesus alone is our King. Everyone is caught up in Obama mania and my reluctance to trust in and even flat out rejection of any man made systematic way of governance, whether it be capitalism, communism, or socialism sounds pretty peculiar to the ear.
I want to be able to trust in God alone. No worldly civilization can save us from ourselves. Only Jesus the liberating King can. I want to return to the Garden, where everything was perfect.
