On being truly human

Man's decisive position above Nature, however, is attained in the fact that he does not worship it as divine. Man's distance from Nature presupposes that he knows God as the Creator of the World, as the One who stands above the whole creation. So long as man regards Nature as divine—(as is the case throughout the pagan world)—he is not really its master, he has not really risen above it, and he is also not really capable of being truly human. When, as is the case to-day, he falls back into the habit of treating Nature as divine, inevitably he will once more lose his humanity. On the other hand, however, man also loses his true human quality when he believes that this consists in his mastery of Nature, in his civilization, or even in his technics. Civilization—in the broadest sense—is no guarantee of “humanity” (Menschlichkeit). On the contrary, where it is not subject to a Higher Power, it becomes perverted into something inhuman.—Emil Brunner, The Christian Doctrine of Creation and Redemption, 67–68

<idle musing>
Wow! There's a lot going in in that passage, isn't there? We are between two gulf: Worshiping nature and losing our true humanity; or, just as dangerous, and the one we are probably most guilty of in the West, thinking we can control nature and therefore seeing ourselves as gods.

A good dose of healthy humility would be help! And a recognition of who we are: We are created in the image of God. We are created to love God, just as he loves us. And that also means loving our fellow humans and all that that entails, and loving creation, which means being good stewards of it.

Quite a charge, that. May we prove willing, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to take it on and fulfill it!
</idle musing>