This blog originally appeared as an op-ed piece in WashingtonPost.com.

In moments of severe disasters like the tornado in Oklahoma, people of faith will often speak of “praying for the city” or “praying for the victims.” As the massive tornado outside of Oklahoma City annihilated buildings including a school with students and teachers, some people of faith used social media to speak messages of prayer and hope in God. However, some atheists also posted in social media, referred to this natural disaster as a “gratuitous evil” or evidence against God’s existence. One atheist tweeted:

“NEWSFLASH—If god cared about Oklahoma he wouldn’t have allowed the tornado in the first place. #PrayForOklahoma #Atheism

God Is Opposed to Storms

When God first created the world, He pushed back the chaos. He brought order where none existed. This is what much of Genesis 1–2 is about. This is why God’s focus at the beginning is the sky and the waters. He is pushing back the madness. He calls doing so “good.”

When God’s will is connected to natural disasters in the Old Testament—like the flooding of the earth—God is not happy about it. It’s a last resort. It means God letting His own work be undone.

(I know -- not possible – but just go along with me…)

One of my good friends runs the Surfrider Foundation (Jim Moriarty – you can find interviews with him on this blog) and he has been on the disposable water bottle issue for years.  In fact, ever since I met him he has been an advocate for stopping the use of single use plastics.  I agree.  Surfrider recently published this page that gives a pretty good explanation of why.

But I got to thinking about whether Jesus would have used a plastic water bottle or a snazzy SIGG aluminum jug.  The short answer is there is no way of knowing, but I had a couple of stray thoughts:

1. Jesus seemed to like nature (His nature) quite a bit.  He lived in it, taught in it, and used it as the subject of many of his parables.  He really did think a lot of it.  Strike against single use water bottles that pretty much do nothing good for nature.
2. Jesus was a minimalist.  He didn’t carry a heavy load around and it appears he may have been one of the first hyper-light backpackers.  So a reusable bottle would probably have been a good thing.  Why would he want to carry a case of water every day?
3. Jesus did like new wine skins.  Not really on point, but kind of a funny thought.
4. Jesus was more interested in pure water (the living kind) than lots of water (see 40 days in the barren waste land).
5. Jesus never really supported the idea of destruction – except for himself as the temple.
6. Jesus did not like wasting his time and it seems like making lots of bottles to hold water and then making them over and over and over again because we use them once and toss them is a big waste of time.
7. Jesus cared more about people than stuff – even nature – so that probably cuts in favor of a single use bottle if that is all they had around.
8. Jesus walked on water – not an island of plastics in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.

One of my most favorite social commentators is George Will. Recently I read an article from him that said that the earth doesn't care what is done to it or for it. His main point is that over "geologic" time (i.e. extended time millenniums, millions of years, etc..) what we do to the earth is so minimal as to barely register. He notes the amount of rain that falls on the earth to illustrate that we should all be flooded out yet we are not drowning on a global scale.

The article raises some good points when one thinks about the big picture and that is necessary from time to time. Comparing our present few generations to geologic time, George Will is right (i believe) that whatever happens will just be a blip and the earth will survive. After all the earth survived ice ages. We can be so short-term near future focused that we forget to look at history or  into the future 20,30 even 1000 years. 

"The mature Christian rarely experiences God. The mature Christian simply knows He's present." I recently attended a 1/2 day spiritual retreat and was struck by that comment the leader made. There have been moments in my life when I feel as if my number one craving is to experience more of God. I have witnessed him act in mighty and tangible ways and I long for those experiences again. Like a child whose daddy is throwing her in the air and catching her back in his arms cries out in delight, "Do it again, daddy, do it again!" I find myself praying those same words often. And when I don't see him act - which I translate into experience - I think he's being silent or not active in my life. 

The comment above has really caused me to stop and think. In 1 Kings 19 the radical Prophet Elijah finds himself in the presence of the living God on the same mountain top Moses stood before him also in the Lord's awesome presence. The elements swirling around him as well as with Moses. But God was not in the elements with Elijah contrary to what I would have expected and I think contrary to what Elijah wanted having just witnessed God in the elements before this. Check out 1 Kings 18 for that story. 

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Jonathan is a faith and culture writer who has published over 100 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post's “On Faith," BeliefNet, The Huffington Post, and Relevant magazine. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010). As a respected Christian voice, Jonathan has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Jonathan, you are very gifted writer. Briefly tell ConversantLife, why you wrote this book?

I am not sure about this, but I think chopping wood might help us save the earth.  Follow the bouncing ball:

1. We live in San Diego and have a nice chunk of land behind our house thanks to the power line that runs over it and the power pole that is in the middle of it.  Once a year, the power company comes out to trim all our trees in the back area so that they don’t touch the power lines.  This year, they cut down a 50 foot eucalyptus tree and left the trunk and big branches in 2 foot sections on the ground. 2. Enter me, last Saturday, to the back yard with an axe, VERY VERY frustrated by the US v. England result in the World Cup (yes I love the World Cup and yes we need a new coach and yes I tried to cheer for the US instead of England and ended up frustrated with both sides).

In October of this year, if the Lord does not prevent it, I will fly to Cape Town, South Africa, to participate as a US delegate at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Sounds pretty intense, huh? Well, it is.

In January, I travelled to Dallas for my first meeting in preparation of this event. I have been part of two meetings since then - one in NYC and one in Boston - and I will be participating via webstream next week in a meeting taking place in California, at Saddleback, pastored by Rick Warren, who prayed at President Obama's inauguration.