Force of Nature

Tonight the CBC science program, The Nature of Things http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/ will celebrate its 50th anniversary and I plan to watch. For all those years the program has done its best to keep us informed about what is developing in the world of science and, in more recent years, about the human impact on the environment.

For 31 of those years David Suzuki has been the host of the show and during those three decades he has become one of the most identifiable, trusted and respected Canadians. Now, some people still despise him because he has been so outspoken, and in the early years attempts were made to discredit his blunt appraisal of what humans were doing to our air and water and our ecosystems. He has been vindicated and recognized as a secular prophet.

While he considers himself an atheist, Suzuki has many of the qualities of a biblical prophet. He has said what the complacent didn't want to hear and was willing to follow his inner voice even if it made him unpopular. Recently I watched the documentary Force of Nature which is about Suzuki. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/force-of-nature-the-david-suzuki-movie/ I found it quite inspiring and I'm impressed that there is still fire in his belly at age seventy five (today is his 75th birthday.) He has even given some ground to the notion of the sacred in nature, drawing on earth-honouring aboriginal spirituality for inspiration.

What are your thoughts about David Suzuki? Do we need more earth-honouring Christian prophets who acknowledge that God is maker of both heaven and earth?