The Slow Perfectionist

Thermodynamics

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21).

So what happens if creation isn’t bonded to decay? After The Fall, part of the curse is that the ground “will produce thorns and thistles” and we’ll eat its fruit “by the sweat of [our] brow” until we die (Genesis 3:17-19). That is the Second Law of Thermodynamics–a very important scientific law that dictates the way our universe works, states that order tends to disorder; entropy will overtake the physical world no matter what; if you build something, it will fall apart. That’s why we have to work, to till the soil, plant, water, pull weeds, kill pests… Fix roofs. Make our beds. Vacuum the floor. Feed ourselves. Things don’t spontaneously get better. We have to work to make that happen. We partner in the life-cycle by tending our garden (be that an actual garden, or whatever your job is). And God does his part: nature takes its course, the plants grow, and we get to harvest.

So again, what happens if creation isn’t bonded to decay? We are promised in Romans that “glory… will be revealed in us”, that we are waiting “eagerly for our adoptions as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:23, 24a). It is through this redemption, then, that the creation will be liberated. So what will that look like? If creation doesn’t decay, what will happen?

I wonder if things will spontaneously burst into beautiful growth. I’ve heard people say that there will still be work in Heaven, but it won’t be “toil” (Genesis 3:17). Will it just be harvest? Will we just walk into the garden and pick fruits and flowers to our hearts content? Sharing our blessings with the other blessed in the afterlife?

I was in a class once where we studied Tolkien’s Middle Earth and spent a good amount of time reading The Silmarillion, the tales about how Middle Earth was created. It’s very similar to the Biblical creation story: Iluvatar (the God-figure) makes the Ainur (angel-types), one of them falls (Morgoth) and makes it his mission to corrupt Middle Earth and the Children of Iluvatar (Elves and Men), etc. Someone posed the question of why Tolkien caused Morgoth to fall, why the corruption had to exist at all? Why couldn’t he have written a story totally set in the undying lands, where everything was perfect? Another student answered that it’s because there must be evil, it makes the story more interesting, relatable. Perfection is boring. I think human minds cannot fathom perfection. We can’t associate with total redemption; it doesn’t make sense to us.

The arc of the story of our Earth includes decay, entropy. So then, won’t creation’s redemption be fascinating? Won’t it be a miracle? Won’t perfection afterwards be the coolest thing ever? I think so.

Faith, Green Living, Life | April 10th, 2008