Are we loving caretakers or mindless destroyers?

Genesis 1 says that God gave man authority over all creation... Everything God created was good... mankind, animals, earth, sky, sun, moon, stars, sea, and all that is in it... He has entrusted man to take care of his creation. It's not ours, it's his. We are simply stewards. How are we doing??? This disturbing video shows what man has done with the dominion given him. It really makes you think...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU 

Mankind looks like destroyers rather than loving caretakers. Our consumeristic self-indulgence has blinded us to seeing the intrinsic value in everything God has created. There is a connectedness wired into all of creation. We don't realize when we destroy it, we are destroying ourselves. My prayer is that God continues to open the eyes of our hearts to see the true value in everything he created. It's not about deciding to become a vegetarian or to start a save the whale foundation. We can start simply by agreeing with God about the preciousness of his creation and ascribing worth to everything and every person we come in contact with. When we see someone's or something's preciousness, we can't help but begin to treat them differently, our lifestyle will automatically begin to reflect our convictions. We will begin to sense a growing concern for people, animals, nature... we will naturally begin to move away from mindlessly neglecting and destroying and begin moving in the direction of loving and healing.

A calm reassurance

I recently lost my cousin, Misty, to Leukemia. She was only in her 30's and was a single mom with 2 young children about the ages of my girls. This morning, I woke up thinking of my cousin, Marcy, her sister, my Aunt Carolyn, and Misty's children. I laid in bed for a while and prayed for them. Then, as I lay there, a 15 year old memory flooded my mind. It was something that happened about 8 or 9 years after my sister, Ginger, died. It was around the anniversary of her death. That week, every day, I would think about Ginger from the time I woke up until the time I fell asleep... even dreamed about her. It was a painful week where I was really missing her. The weird thing was, on the actual anniversary, I did not wake up thinking about her. That morning, I went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, as usual. But stopped immediately at the doorway because I saw something I had never seen before. There was a perfect heart shaped image of pure light shining against my dark cabinets. I was wondering what it was reflecting off of and thought it odd that I'd never ever seen it before. I looked at the only window in the kitchen, which was above the sink. I looked to see if there was a heart shape in the shutters I had recently installed over that window, but there wasn't. I kept looking around the room trying to find a heart shape. I was really puzzled because the image was so bright and distinct. Finally, I gave up and got myself a cup of coffee. On my way out of the kitchen I noticed Ginger's picture on top of the roller top desk. It caught my eye because the sun was glaring off of the frame. Then it hit me that this was the anniversary of Ginger's death. I started to get teary and choked up. As I stared at the picture, I noticed that although the outside of the frame was square, the inside was heart shaped. The sun had been shining through the window onto Ginger's picture and reflecting a heart shape onto the dark cabinets. As soon as I put it all together, I turned back to look at the cabinet. At that very moment, the heart began to fade away until it was completely gone. I never saw it again after that day. I can't even explain the feeling. I felt God's presence more than I ever had. I felt that he was reassuring me that he was with me in my grief; I was not alone. I felt the calm reassurance that he loved Ginger even more than I did.