THE ONE AND THE MANY
The wilderness is experienced on many planes. From a mountain top the wilderness is enjoyed as a brilliant landscape. It can be an ocean of textured green interrupted by outcroppings of rock and earth. Distant rivers bring the depth of valleys with a thin blue line. If you look from a hill you can enjoy the curvature of the earth and witness the world around you in more detail. If you're a hunter, you can watch the pattern of your prey and calculate where you might intersect their path and secure the nourishment your family needs for survival.
If you are on the trail, you are immersed under the wilderness canopy. Everything is proportional and intimate. The eagle you see in the sky is your eagle, the porcupine your porcupine, the trees your trees, the grass your grass. Everything has a special identity as it enters your mind and your soul. Everything is precious, and stimulates your gratitude and protective impulses.
God tests Abraham’s pioneer spirit when he shares his decision to destroy Sodom. Abraham dialogues with God, using questions about the justice of destroying the good in an attempt to punish the wicked. God honors the desire to protect the individual; it is written in the very fabric of creation. God loves the one as well as the many, and is willing to suffer all in patience for the least among us. Soon Abraham will benefit from this principle.
And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there. And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. Genesis 18: 23-33
If you are on the trail, you are immersed under the wilderness canopy. Everything is proportional and intimate. The eagle you see in the sky is your eagle, the porcupine your porcupine, the trees your trees, the grass your grass. Everything has a special identity as it enters your mind and your soul. Everything is precious, and stimulates your gratitude and protective impulses.
God tests Abraham’s pioneer spirit when he shares his decision to destroy Sodom. Abraham dialogues with God, using questions about the justice of destroying the good in an attempt to punish the wicked. God honors the desire to protect the individual; it is written in the very fabric of creation. God loves the one as well as the many, and is willing to suffer all in patience for the least among us. Soon Abraham will benefit from this principle.
And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there. And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. Genesis 18: 23-33
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