Divine Intervention

I received a forward today which quoted:

“No one will manufacture a lock without a key. Similarly, God won’t give us problems without solutions”.

Even the orthodox person in me that believes in the religious scriptures is not able to accept that the above statement is true. I would want to be irrationally sanguine, but the facts suggest otherwise.

Most of the problems that we face today aren’t sent down to us by God. They are all man-made, and in most cases, self-inflicted. We orchestrated such situations and have reached a stage where we are not able to find a way out. We cannot get away by laying the blame on God and expect him to provide us solutions to get us out of this adversity. We have to put the first foot forward.

Consider Global warming for example. The Industrial revolution reared its ugly head in the late 18^th century. This revolution laid the foundation for the numerous technological advancements that we see today. To satiate our indefinite requirement for energy, we have used up the minimum stock of non-renewable resources that were on offer. We over-exploited nature to satiate our material needs/wants and reached a point of no-return. And even now, our thirst for energy doesn’t seem to be quenched. We have started to examine large-scale nuclear alternatives.

This over-exploitation of nature and natural resources has had an irreversible impact on the global climate. The increase in pollution has contributed to acid rains that have threatened the vegetation of a few areas in Europe. The increase in industrial pollution has depleted the ozone layer, which provides us with the main source of our existence, Oxygen. The agricultural patterns have had a shift too. The soil has lost its minerals; it doesn’t have the same fertility it used to have. The monsoons are failing due to the changing weather patterns and the quantity of agricultural produce is dwindling by the day leading to a shortage in food. The use of hybridization techniques in agriculture have contributed to the increase in produce, but only marginally. On the flip side, hybridization alters the original characteristics of the produce in most cases. A fruit brought out of hybridization techniques no longer has its original taste, and doesn’t keep all the nutrients intact. One doesn’t feel the freshness in the vegetables that are added to curry anymore.

Why has the average life expectancy gone down despite the advent of modern medical facilities? I remember my grandfathers and great grandfathers living hale and healthy close to a hundred years. I don’t remember them suffering from any conspicuous physical ailment. They had access to nutritious food, adulteration in food was unheard of, and pollution was not the same then as it is now. They walked and cycled long distances for work, exercised regularly and remained fit. We can contrast that with the sedentary nature of our jobs in front of a computer, consumption of fast (junk) food, and the complete lack of physical activity. Can we deny that the change in lifestyle is impacting our health?

There are so many examples to show that the technological advancements have been more of a bane than a boon. Cloning, which has been allowed in plants and animals, can soon be implemented in humans too. When that happens, the method can be used for harmful purposes and the after effects need no special mention. Bio weapons can be a potential threat to human race and can have the same vitality as that of a nuclear attack. We frequently hear and read about oil spills in oceans threatening the marine ecology. Already, half the species of plants, animals and birds are either extinct or nearing extinction, unable to bear the brunt of the changing weather patterns. Were all these changes driven by God and is it rational to expect him to bail us out of this predicament?

So aren’t all these self-inflicted?

All that we needed was a mere three centuries to inflict irrevocable havoc on the world that has survived since 2500 BC (according to history). It’s easy to blame our forefathers for not having the foresight to anticipate the after effects of the technological change that they were perpetrating.

Let us not point fingers at others and get our act together. We shall be socially responsible. We shall do our bit to save energy, prevent wastage of food and live a green life to ensure that we bequeath a hospitable environment to our progeny.

At the same time, let us keep hoping for divine intervention to expedite this reversal in trend.