Church of Our Saviour Australia

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The Balance of Nature Creed and Religion.

By Glen Hayman

I would like to start with a quote from American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson on the subject of nature;

“Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that is there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.”

This quote beautifully depicts the cycle that exists in life; “but with every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.” The cycle this quote refers to is part of the balance that occurs within nature for life to continue to exist. The ending of one life brings the time and conditions for another to begin.

The Balance of Nature Creed is a teaching that tells us that for all things within nature and the universe to exist there must be a balanced system throughout the cycle of life. In the cycle of life for each positive occurrence there will be a negative occurrence. It is these positive and negative occurrences that maintain a balanced foundation for life to exist. Without balance, life would collapse within itself.

The Balance of Nature is one belief where religion and science can meet. Although limited in explanation, science puts forward its theory that biological systems are usually in a state of equilibrium whereby any small change in a particular parameter such as the population size of a species, will be corrected by a negative occurrence that will return the parameter back to a point of balance with the rest of the system. Under the scientific explanation this equilibrium is what sustains life.

The Balance of Nature principle has a heritage that relates to a time long before the birth of Christ. In Ancient Greece, historian Herodotus (484 BC to 425 BC) showed the first signs of explaining the balance of nature, albeit in a scientific sense rather than referring to religion. It is stated that he described the relationship between predator and prey species, and commented on how they were in an essentially static balance, with predators never excessively consuming their prey populations. It is his theory that has evolved and grown in acceptance throughout time to form the basis of both scientific and religious beliefs.

Unlike scientific explanations, under religion the Balance of Nature is recognised for the broader implications that it has. The Balance of Nature Creed is not a one that only provides explanation for the life and death cycle of animal and tree species. Balance is across all aspects and species of life and life is nature. It is a mistake to limit the term of nature to the existence of trees and animals. The human race is part of nature and we are involved in the overall cycle that is nature. Every action that we take as individuals has an effect within the cycle and therefore forms part of the overall balance.

The Balance of Nature Creed really is that simple to understand, that is, with the good there must be an equal amount of bad. But acceptance of this creed can be so hard for people to understand. The reason for this is the fact that as part of the belief you have to be willing to accept the negative or bad events that will occur throughout your life. Nobody likes the thought that at some point something bad will happen to us but it is necessary. Life can be extremely positive and happy, but there will be moments to balance life that are blatantly cruel.

Another common misconception is that the Balance is always “perfect”, meaning that during our individual life the amount of positive and negative experiences will be completely equal. Unfortunately this may not always be the case. The balance of life is across all aspects not individual. It could mean that the balance occurs by having two occurrences that are at the completely opposite ends of the scale. To prove this you only need to look at the gap that exists between rich and poor. One person can have the positive experience of large amounts of wealth and assets, while another person suffers in poverty and starvation. In this example “perfect balance” can be achieved by the rich person donating parts of his or her wealth to help the less fortunate one. The act of generosity and donating is what helps to reach a perfect balance for all.

To illustrate further the Balance of Nature I give you the example of two men, Peter and Paul. Please note that this example may be offensive to some people.

Both men had a young family. Peter was employed fulltime as a Sales Representative for a large company. Meanwhile Paul was unemployed and struggling financially to provide for his young children. One day Peter was tragically killed in a car accident, one of life’s saddest experiences. His family were left extremely distraught at his passing. However, upon Peter’s death this opened a vacancy of employment at his company. Subsequently Paul was hired to fill the vacant position. Life’s cruel and negative occurrence of Peter’s death was balanced by the positive occurrence of Paul obtaining fulltime work and now being able to financially provide adequate food and shelter for his young family.

Again I apologise for any offense that that example may have caused. However it does illustrate the way in which life will balance.

The Balance of Nature Creed should never be a negative belief. We should never live in fear that life will one day hits us with a bad experience.  It is important not to allow ourselves to become focused on any impending negativity. The key to life is to always remain positive and happy, and when a bad event does occur we simply keep the positive focus, move on and keep believing that happier times will just be around the corner. Life is a gift for us to enjoy not one to resent.

“Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.” - A quote from Corita Kent (aka Sister Mary Corita Kent of the Roman Catholic order).

People who have viewed this article have also viewed the page "God Balance by Owen Brear".

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