God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31. The Message
What a pronouncement! God noted that all that was created was good, very good. A man and a woman formed from the dust of the earth were the pinnacle of God’s creative process. Hmmm. There must not have been toxins in the soil because God did announce that all the creation was good. The first humans were on that “good” list.
Secondly, God created human beings after the divine image. Given the limitations of flesh and blood, there must have been something beyond the physical that made them the image of the Creator. Consider that the spirit within the persons that was capable of patience, love, creativity, intelligence and so forth. Also, the capability of choice that had such phenomenal power that the course of life could be altered for good or evil.
These human gems which we view as the crown of the divine creation were tasked to subdue the earth and have dominion over all the living things on the earth. Some surmise that humankind was given the right to rape the earth of its treasures without regard to present and future generations. If humankind is made in the image of God, there is nothing about God that makes violence of any part of nature, including persons, acceptable. Dominion does denote rule, but in the context of the biblical narrative, there is dominion that is beneficial to the whole of creation as opposed to destructive. To have authority can mean to give attention to the care of all elements of the environment and insure that they are harmoniously functioning to give and enrich life.
Humankind seems to be infected with greed that is turning the globe of blues, greens, and other vibrant hues into a dumpster overflowing with paper-bag-browns of decay and toxicity. It is not that there are too many people on the earth; it is probably more accurate to say that there are too few people who are willing to invest in the earth in order that all of us might have an opportunity to breath clean air, drink uncontaminated water, eat unaltered food and live in dwellings where toxins do not ooze from the flammable building materials.
Some will say that we can simply populate another planet. Reality check. If we do not address our environment here on earth, we will simply trash another planet.
Our choice: 
We don’t have as much time as we did yesterday to save the earth. Can we accept the divine charge of dominion and make the earth a “habitat for humanity” that can qualify as “good?”
Dorothy Watson Tatem, D.Min., ACC
Senior Associate
Next Step Associates, LLC
Cassandra W. Jones, Ed.D.
CEO & President
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