Prayer 8
Worship
Prayers for the Age of Technology
Object:
Dear Master Craftsman And Innovator:
Improvements of technology in the recent era have been so revolutionary that we are at a loss to know how to assess them. They have relieved us of much drudgery and vastly enriched our day-to-day existence. For all their benefits, we are profoundly grateful. Thank you for making the necessary channels of learning and growth available to us.
We are learning, however, that the benefits in technological change usually carry attendant risks and liabilities. In some of these negative consequences very serious problems are arising. Many are so great that we are beginning to wonder whether we have the ability to cope with them.
Primary among these are runaway population growth and pollution of the planet earth.
Improvements in food production and medical technology are improving health, saving lives, and increasing the life span, causing such rapid increase in population that it is being spoken of as an explosion. How long the earth's limited resources can sustain such growth is becoming a critical question.
The pollution being generated by the masses of people, and the technology necessary to sustain them, is already a major problem. Soil, air, and water, along with almost every other aspect of the environment, are being damaged at an alarming rate. Nuclear technology, in particular, has added enormously to the problem.
Thus far, humanity has found itself incapable of doing anything significant about these problems. We can see possible disaster ahead, and we recognize what might be done to avoid it. But we are so childish, so immature still, that we cannot reach consensus and take the corrective action called for.
With regard to the central issue, the population problem, we seem determined not to accept responsibility, and leave the matter up to you or some faceless working of fate.
Make us alive, dear Lord of Life, to the fact that our so-called coming of age has put us in charge even of this vital matter: the growth of our own numbers. Give us the maturity to accept this responsibility with proper regard for all the values involved. Let us not become indifferent to the sacredness of life. Give us the wisdom and courage to act beyond the inhibitions of tradition and apathy.
Prompt us with persistent reminders that we must accept this responsibility, and act upon it, or be prepared for the consequences of our sinful neglect.
Make us of the present generation especially aware of our obligation to help minimize the burden on generations to come. Amen.
Improvements of technology in the recent era have been so revolutionary that we are at a loss to know how to assess them. They have relieved us of much drudgery and vastly enriched our day-to-day existence. For all their benefits, we are profoundly grateful. Thank you for making the necessary channels of learning and growth available to us.
We are learning, however, that the benefits in technological change usually carry attendant risks and liabilities. In some of these negative consequences very serious problems are arising. Many are so great that we are beginning to wonder whether we have the ability to cope with them.
Primary among these are runaway population growth and pollution of the planet earth.
Improvements in food production and medical technology are improving health, saving lives, and increasing the life span, causing such rapid increase in population that it is being spoken of as an explosion. How long the earth's limited resources can sustain such growth is becoming a critical question.
The pollution being generated by the masses of people, and the technology necessary to sustain them, is already a major problem. Soil, air, and water, along with almost every other aspect of the environment, are being damaged at an alarming rate. Nuclear technology, in particular, has added enormously to the problem.
Thus far, humanity has found itself incapable of doing anything significant about these problems. We can see possible disaster ahead, and we recognize what might be done to avoid it. But we are so childish, so immature still, that we cannot reach consensus and take the corrective action called for.
With regard to the central issue, the population problem, we seem determined not to accept responsibility, and leave the matter up to you or some faceless working of fate.
Make us alive, dear Lord of Life, to the fact that our so-called coming of age has put us in charge even of this vital matter: the growth of our own numbers. Give us the maturity to accept this responsibility with proper regard for all the values involved. Let us not become indifferent to the sacredness of life. Give us the wisdom and courage to act beyond the inhibitions of tradition and apathy.
Prompt us with persistent reminders that we must accept this responsibility, and act upon it, or be prepared for the consequences of our sinful neglect.
Make us of the present generation especially aware of our obligation to help minimize the burden on generations to come. Amen.
