Article April 22, 1996 Issue

Environmental cleanup and the role of prayer

Evan Mehlenbacher

Long ago, at a business I once worked for, it was common practice to dump used oil onto the gravel driveway in front of the building where we worked. We didn't know what else to do with the unwanted crude, and it seemed a good way to keep the sand from blowing into the shop. After a number of years the driveway became an oily, sticky mess—no pleasant sight to behold or fun to work around. It was finally decided to stop this practice and start storing the oil for future reuse.

Everyone made an effort to reform, but old habits hung on. Every so often one of us would forget and throw a batch of oil onto the driveway, just as we'd always done. I prayed to find a remedy for this forgetfulness.

Thinking deeply about it, I could see that much abuse of the environment stems from the belief that the earth belongs to man and that he has a right to do with it whatever he pleases. But Christ Jesus taught people to pray "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven"—to carry out the will of God, not a personal or willful desire (Matt. 6:10).

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