With the news this week of the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the resulting human disruption and turmoil in canceled air flights and so on, it caused some reflection on the eternal perspective of things.

In Psalm 24 David wrote, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods" (verses 1--2).

In Moses 7:48--9 we find, "And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men [the mortal bodies of all mankind are made of the dust of the earth]; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?

"And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, wilt thou not have compassion upon the earth?"

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that the Earth is a living thing, and that mankind are stewards in exercising righteous dominion over it.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught that the Lord uses the weather many times to get the attention of His people and to chasten them.

Our point here in all of this is that the Lord is in charge. Many people have observed the obvious changes in climate we now witness and ascribe them to mankind's abusive stewardship in excessive greenhouse-gas emissions from industrial and machinery waste products. A "scientific report" last month said that the Ten Plagues of Egypt found in the Book of Exodus were not miracles caused by Moses' priesthood power but were caused by climate change! One pundit speculated on just what brand of SUV the Pharaoh was driving . . . !

Would it sound simplistic or naive to state that the Lord's hand is in "climate change", so called, to chasten and bless His children and to bring them to repentance?

Nearly two years ago on the internet was a report on the possible existence of other earths in outer space. One of the points made was that "plate tectonics" (stay with me, this is not that technical)---"the forces that move continents and lift gigantic mountain ranges---are key to life on Earth, and possibly to life on other worlds." That's because "as the rocky plates that form the planet's outer shell move about, they also recycle carbon dioxide. This greenhouse gas keeps our planet's temperature balmy, but not too hot."

As prophesied in the scriptures, in the last days there will be a great increase in natural disasters --- earthquakes . . . the sea heaving itself beyond its bounds . . . vapors of smoke in foreign lands . . . and so forth. Earthquakes shift tectonic plates causing release of the gases on a huge scale. And here is the point: humankind has not caused and cannot cause earthquakes. The God of nature has, and does.

In the "warning voice" that is the book of Doctrine and Covenants we find in section 121:12 this summary of all we have said here: "And also that God hath set his hand and seal to change the times and the seasons, and to blind their minds, that they may not understand his marvelous workings; that he may prove them . . . ."

The Psalmist went on to say after our initial quote: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3--4). . . . That swearing, referred to, has less to do with profanity than with swearing an oath, or making a covenant. More on this later.

Thus we see: the issue for us is one of being humble before the Lord, of acknowledging His hand in all things (see D&C 59:21), so that we do not find ourselves as the Nephites of old, of whom it was written, "And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him" (Helaman 12:3).

O, that we may "always remember Him . . ."!

Steve