A losing battle
The ʻĪao Needle, Maui 1992
“Man talks of a battle with Nature, forgetting that if he won the battle, he would find himself on the losing side.” — E. F. Schumacher
No matter how much progress we make, our ability to control nature ultimately remains elusive. Natural disasters leave trauma and suffering in their wake, so it’s understandable that we want to rein in such destruction. But perhaps it’s mostly a good thing we are not always able to manipulate the physical world to suit our own ends. Actions that seem to be a good idea at the time often turn out to be mistakes. We would do well to heed the lessons in humility that the natural world teaches us over and over again.
Defeat Despair 
God Morning, Beloved Child of God to you and yours Shalom. Thank you for the encouragement this morning! Praying without ceasing and giving thanks in All Joy to God our Father. agape LOVE, kate
Thanks Kate, it’s good to hear from you. We really do appreciate the prayers! Hope you have had a good week; I pray all is well with you and your family.
Dear Julia, Would appreciate some prayers for the family. The devil has been roaming without ceasing; just doesn’t seem to understand that God’s Victory in all things will prevail. it’s been 54 days since i’ve been able to see my grandkids. In North Carolina grandparents have no rights; i’m praying if it is in God’s will that this will change in the future; so that children and grandparents will not continue to be abuse as they are in this state and many others who have not address this issue. As with many government institutions [DSS and judicial]; not much at all makes sense. i believe that’s why we are reminded throughout the scriptures that we are truly “not of this world”. i hold onto promise that Jesus has overcome the world. Since June 2012, my favorite song is “Even if” by Kutless. Thank You for being an awesome encourage; my go to daily “very” early in the morning :+) as start my morning with ABBA in Garden of HOPE.
Kate, I will certainly be praying for you and your family…and I hope others who may read this will join us in prayer! Thanks for being here and for sharing your joys and sorrows with us.
Thank you Julia. Sometimes I have to be reminded that I am not in control, but God is.
Hi Karen, thanks for visiting us here. Lately I’ve had to remind myself that none of us knows what is in store; everyone goes on faith daily in so many ways. I can’t say it’s getting any easier to trust God no matter what happens (I still have my own ideas!) but life is forcing me to let go of the illusion that I’m runnning the show.
Amen to all you have said and the sooner each of us realize that God is in control the better off we will be. I cant belive that I have the gall to try and tell God how I want something done insted of asking Him how does He want it taken care of.
That’s a problem for most of us, I think – we all have lots of advice for God about how to straighten things out! But I do think that learning to let go and TRUST God is the key to surviving almost anything. Thanks for being here and for your comment.
Very true. I’ve often heard that if all human beings were wiped off the earth, the planet would flourish…completely repair itself. Beautiful photograph.
Isn’t it easy to get an exaggerated sense of our own importance in the great scheme of things? Sort of puts our problems into perspective, I think. Thanks for visiting, and for your comment!
Julia, I often say that no two days are alike. It seems some are better than others. We just keep traveling by faith. Prayers cross the distance, Sheila
Thanks, Sheila. What you say is so true; when things are going bad or I feel terrible or hopeless, I have learned to remind myself that “this too shall pass,” and the same is true for happy times. Gradually we learn not to be overwhelmed by the ups and downs — at least, not as much! Thanks for your prayers! We are being blessed by all who pray for us and we are so grateful.
Julia, one quote that gives me strength and I love to share is that of Charles H. Spurgeon:
“Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened.” Sheila
Sheila, I love that quote! I have never heard it before. Maybe it will show up here on the blog if I can find or take a photo to go with it! 🙂
Humans by nature overestimate their importance and under estimate their ill effect on nature, it may be the un-doing of it all.
I do believe that nature will prevail, though…as someone said (don’t have time to look up the attribution right now) “nature always bats last.” Meanwhile if each of us does what we can to use resources wisely and not wastefully, we will at least build an attitude of respectful gratitude for what is here for us to enjoy.