Earth Day... Why?

When I picked up the newspaper yesterday morning (Wednesday, Earth Day) the headlines were aglow with wonderful human interest stories about Earth Day activities. I even read a quote by a 6-year-old that "if we don't keep the planet clean, we will all die!" He has been well trained. That's why they want to get them into the system young.

If I were to presuppose that the universe is an eternal (no god needed) ever-improving system, were it not for the detrimental things we humans do to un-improve it -- I would still be faced with an important question. Other than a feel-good exercise, why does it matter? If the earth is a blob of matter orbiting a burning blob of matter spiraling around a bigger blob of matter in a universe filled with such blobs of matter. Nothing personal about it. It just is. As fascinating as the universe is, so what? Science says it is all headed for "room temperature" -- heat death. It didn't matter to anyone important at the beginning and there is no one for it to be important to at the end.

But I don't presuppose that. I presuppose... I trust, that the earth is here for a reason. I trust that earth's inhabitants are here for a reason. If I am awed at the creation (and I am) as a reflection of the one who created it, then it is the one who designed and created who ultimately should get the most awe and credit. Borrowing from Romans 1, worshipping the Creator, not the creature.

What about the earth and the environment and... what if we all die? Having been entrusted with all the tools and materials to MANAGE the earth properly, yes, mankind has hijacked it for himself and taken it into the ditch. In that sense, I can agree with the environmental activism. Divorced from ultimate meaning, however, Earth Day... Why?