By G.P. Avants

In the 1920’s a group of film makers visited one of the last untamed and dangerous places on Earth: Skull Island. There we find a place that the ravages of men’s advancements hasn’t touched. The wild and prehistoric world is managed by a king named Kong. Life has remained wild and dangerous but it still had some sense of order with a heavy hairy fist and a highly intelligent steely gaze.

Welcome to Skull Island 1974.

The wild world that existed before us is being tamed by man in the form of satellites and great flying machines. The hidden island has been found and the exploration has begun. The Monarch team has been studying mysterious creatures for years and this island might be the entrance to a whole hollow earth below. With great excitement and wide eye relish they begin staking their claims with fire and firepower.

However what a swarm of men in their flying machines have found is that there is a force to be reckoned with. A much larger King Kong steps in to protect the nature from the advances of wild modern men.

ROOOOOAAAR!

This begins a old man vs nature struggle on virgin territory. Who will win in a war that began once men were given the God-given duty to subdue and manage the world.

As my wife and I drive through the Southern California landscape somewhere between Corona and Chino Hills we see the housing and businesses communities popping up. “Wow,” my wife exclaims. “I remember when there was nothing here. It was just open land.” So, we, too in California have seen the taming of the wild in our own backyard. As a man who loves the outdoors I often wonder where the balance is between giving folks places to live and some open space that is just that. There are many who want to take extremes when it comes to mankind as caretakers or the world. Some would love to see everything man-made get dismantled, leave very little of a footprint, and ask man to take a hands off (Photo and memory only) attitude towards nature.

Then others take the position of building homes, providing business, using up every bit of geographic space for some purpose. Turning a beautiful open space into a profitable piece of real estate might be all some think about when they see nature.

But what did God mean when he asked mankind to manage the earth? As a manager we aren’t owners, we run things the way the boss would wish. God is all about bringing order out of chaos, and He loves when men and women are creative, inventive, and develop raw materials into something useful. He also loves the lonely wild places of the world. Have you ever seen the ice-capped saw toothed Canadian Rockies or ocean depths on National Geographic just waiting to be explored? Like anything in this life, the Lord created, there is a balance.

I believe that the real King keeps things in balance. Jesus created all things so maybe we need to take our cues from Him. There are things managers, manage and there are things we let the residents do without disturbing them. So if you are on either end of the man vs nature war, maybe this will help you see the beauty in balance.

Machines and progress do make men’s lives better. Technology allows us to explore more of the world, but maybe so we can learn to appreciate it better. No matter how much civilization attempts to tame nature or the people it’s created for, there is always an amount of freedom that should not be stifled.

The Lord will always provide a challenge, a struggle, or unsettling circumstances to keep us from being complacent. It’s okay that not everything inside or outside our life is perfectly organized or planned.

If you like wild nature remember even in the animal kingdom there is a circle of birth, death, and life that also part of a food chain. Man is at the top of creation and not just an unwanted guest. We were made in the image of God and thus given a role no other species could do. Subduing and taming nature is a way to enjoy and protect the world and all the life in it at the same time.

God gave us brains for a reason.

What does that mean? Subdue and control or be caretakers? Nature naturally fights back. God made protectors like Kong, but we have tampered with the rule of things. Some of the men from the Monarch team saw Kong in his glory. He only fought when trouble arose. He was not a wild dumb beast, but one who knew his purpose. Seeing a monster in the role they were created for might cause us to think before we shoot and discover God’s perfectly balanced hand in the wild places of the world. Maybe we don’t have to fix it or tame everything, but simply smile, appreciate it, and move on.