Why We're Excited About the World's Future

Grounded with Chuck Quinley

I was talking to a young person on a college campus just this week. I asked if he was worried about the future.

“Anytime I get depressed about the state of the world or even my own life, I just think about all the amazing things that have to happen just to make life possible on Earth. It lets me know that it’s not all on me.”

That’s what this week’s podcast is about—the divine marvel of Earth, the living planet and that way its fruitfulness inspires us to hope and work.

We are working our way through the Genesis creation narrative. In previous episodes, we talked about how our Creator filled the universe with his presence. Then he built the protective skydome to shield Earth from catastrophic disaster. He conquered darkness and limited its power by 50%. He did the same to the power of the watery deep.

Everything done up to this point has been preparation. Now it's time to deliver the baby.

Day Three

In this episode, we look at the third “day” of creation, the rise of Earthland, and the gathering of the waters into Seas. You’ll find the story in Genesis 1:9-13 which begins with,

“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. Ge.1.9 NKJV

God issues the command and Earthland rises up into the spotlight from the watery deep. She is gloriously pregnant with every kind of seed earth life will ever need.

Thoughts about Seed

I can’t say I’ve ever given much thought to seed before researching the results of God’s creative work on day three. I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about it in preparation for today’s newsletter and I’m amazed at the wisdom of God to create something so small and yet, so vital for all of us.

Seeds are essential not just for plant reproduction but also for human civilization. They are a primary source of food (grains, legumes, nuts, and many fruits). They provide us with materials such as cotton and linen. Additionally, seeds play a critical role in ecosystems, supporting the diet of animals and the creation of habitat. Seeds are unique in three ways;

* Propagation: Seeds allow plants to spread to new areas, sometimes far from the parent plant, through various dispersal mechanisms such as wind, water, and animals.

* Survival: Seeds can remain dormant for extended periods, allowing plants to survive through unfavorable conditions until circumstances are right for germination.

* Nutrition: Seeds often contain significant amounts of stored food (e.g., fats, proteins, carbohydrates), which sustains the embryo during germination and early growth.

Did you get that last part? A seed is a plant embryo.

In the nucleus of the seed’s embryo, the cells have genetic instructions written in DNA code. This code instructs the cell on how to care for the development of the plant and when to make the proteins that will be needed for the plant to survive in the environment, thrive, and bear fruit with even more seed

Just Add water

When you add water to a seed it triggers the growth of the embryo. The seed coat breaks open, and the young plant starts to emerge, using its stored nutrients until it can produce its own food as a plant through photosynthesis.

What are the Odds?

* Of being hit by lightening? That’s 1 in 15,000 (You would think it would be more rare, right?)

* Of being hit by lightening twice? Much less odds, only 1 in 9 million

* Of Winning the Powerball Lottery? Almost impossible, its only 1 in 290 million

* Of planting a single seed carefully and seeing it produce fruit and multiply 1000 times? Amazingly, it’s close to 100%.

That’s how much the earth rewards human care. It’s Spring, right? Experiment with one tomato plant, which comes from one tiny seed, and see how much return you receive from tending to it. Your single seed plant should easily produce fruit with between 3000-9,000 seeds.

We have an invested Creator. He loves his creation and is determined to build a physical world of free beings who can thrive and develop and make full use of their creativity.

Unlike the destructive powers of “the universe,” the default state on Earth is set to yield fruitfulness to those who tend to her carefully in terms of: Plants, animals, and natural resources.

You’ll probably never win the lottery, but earth will reward you richly if you care for her. That’s how God designed seed to multiply for those who sow them.

"The land is a gift because the people who possess it did not create it.”

—Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land—

The amazingly good news of Day 3 in the Genesis narrative is that life on earth is designed to flourish. You can build a wonderfully satisfying life here.

In fact, you can ONLY build a wonderfully satisfying life here. After spending billions in SETI research and developing satellite listening stations to the edges of our solar system the clear verdict is that we can find absolutely no signs of life anywhere but on Earth.

Our planet is alive. It literally pulsates with something called dynamic geography. It moves around like an active baby in a woman’s belly, rolling and bulging in an active exchange of minerals, lava and gasses still creating and repositioning mountains and valleys above and below the sea.

The earth is alive and full of seed, just waiting to be tended by humans hands.

At the end of the work of Day 3, the Creator critiques his own work and announces for the first time that Earth and Seas are “Tov” (good for life, constructive).

Later He will plant a tree to commemorate all that is Good.

Discussion Question for the chat: Has your media feed affected your feelings about the future? Do you dread what is coming or honestly look forward to where God is taking all of us?

We look forward to discussing this with you in the chat (Yes, it’s back on! I don’t know how it got switched off. I’ve been missing your insights).

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