Ev and I watched the Supreme Court debate regarding Sackett vs. EPA/CWA etc. on CSPAN the other day. I am sure I could have bee a litigating attorney, if that opportunity had been afforded to me way back in the 1950’s. As the first one to attend college on either side of my family, two choices were afforded me by my guidance counselor: teaching or nursing. I wanted to be a news correspondent and was told by my counselor, who was also my journalism teacher, that women couldn’t enter that field. I was devastated, naïve, and would never defy the opinion of an elder expert.
Anyway, as an author and wordsmith, this case fascinated me as I watches every member of the court respectfully argue the meaning of words like contiguous, adjacent, abut, wetlands, tributaty, groundwater, marsh, slough, etc. The case was debated on October 3rd and was obviously one of those “if I don’t get my way, I’ll argue it all the way to the Supreme Court” cases.
Apparently this debate has endured fifteen years of cases from one court to another, trying to settle a person who bought a piece of property overlooking a lake, hoping to build a house there. We’ve recently had just such a case involving Turkey Creek in our own town, debated before the Palm Bay City Council.
At play here is the environmental concerns for the waters of the United States and the possible pollution and environmental changes which can, and do, result from that land’s development. The owners dumped gravel on the property to disguise the fact that it was wetlands. They were never given the permit to build on it.
The members of the Supreme Court respectfully asked questions and expressed their viewpoints. The lawyers on either side, one for the Sackett family and one for the Environmental Protection Agency debated the meaning of the Clean Waters Act passed by Congress in 1977. The case has not been decided yet, so there is no conclusion at this point.
It gave me opportunity to apply spiritual principles here. I am delighted and feel comfortable in knowing that God’s law is absolute, and that the Bible expresses Truth with a capital T. There is no debate over His ownership of the earth, His statement at the creation that “He saw that it was good,” and that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I am no “tree-hugger.” I do not believer we should live in the rugged wilderness and not develop land. But I do understand reasonable use of property and hope local authorities take their responsibility to shepherd development and disallow building where it would harm the environment or cause undue damage which would affect future land use. We are seeing immense changes here locally. And, even if it is a once in a century occurrence, we’ve just seen the devastation of building too close to the wide ocean which can forcefully destroy entire communities.
Man will always want to debate. That’s one of the tenets of elections, after all. We’re hearing arguments and accusations ad infinitum right now. Our position as Christians is to weigh the merits based on our belief that Jesus is the arbiter. The old adage, What Would Jesus Do? should be our watchword. I am praying that in this present time in our society, we Christians should be on our knees asking God to have mercy on us. So many have denied the covenant and the rules of God that our world is crying out for redemption. We Christians are sometimes too silent and should be making our voices heard. We cannot deny the controversies swirling around us and do so at our peril. The attacks against God’s universe and His order will have their due recompense.
As our beloved missionary said on Sunday, when he became a Christian, he started by reading Revelation when we got a Bible. He wanted to know the end of the story. As he humorously put it, we either recognize Christ as the One and only Son of God, the true King, or we face barbecue. that about says it and solves that debate definitively.
Our founding fathers of this country wanted us to debate, to deliberate, and to decide the best for everyone under God’s leadership. We are to continue that effort, although much has become muddied, just like the swamps, the soughs, the wetlands, the mud, and the environmental features near our precious waterways. Everything is connected, for the earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof, both physically and spiritually.
Would I have been a good lawyer? Debatable, but here are some things to consider. 
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