By Rodney Tilley, Pastor Van Horn Community Church —
Pachamama? Same question that I asked. Who or what is Pachamama? I
began to read the article and it surprised me for I have never even hear
the name mentioned on the television, on radio, or even in the
newspapers, that is, until I read the article on the internet from the
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
It seems that in
recent years, that the voters of Bolivia, in a new constitutional
referendum have made the old Andean goddess, “Pachamama,†or Mother
Earth, their new deity. Pachamama, most noted of all the goddesses of
South America, the one connected with the sacrificing of llama fetuses,
has now been given equal status with the Judeo-Christian God in their
constitution. It is frightening when one remembers the old gods
associated with South America, including the ones that required human
sacrifice, and live beating hearts. It is a step toward something, but
Pachamama is not a step forward.
We have been going green,
pushing for a new earth and for a call to worship the creation. We have
given the Nobel Peace Prize and lavished accolades on our new found
prophets. We have worshipped the creation, but not the creator, and
Pachamama, with her new blend of mysticism and environmental
consciousness corresponds nicely.
Did we forget to teach our
children to, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth?†(Ecc.
12:1) or have we succeeded in fulfilling the Bible verse that reads,
“They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and
served created things rather than the Creator.†(Romans 1:25)
We
should remember that the commandment teaches us to, “Have no other Gods
before me.†(Ex. 20:3) We do not worship Mother Earth, Father Time, or
Uncle Ben, nor do we worship Pachamama, my mama, or your mama. We do not
worship the idols of gold, whether it is Wall Street or Main Street,
nor the gods of pleasure and pursuit.
The Bible tells us
in the last book, in the last chapter, in Rev. 22:9 that we should not
worship men, angels, or prophets, but we should “Worship God,†and him
alone.
So tell me once again why I should worship Pachamama
or Mother Earth, that which I walk on every day and trample under my
feet and that which is always below me. No, I will worship the God of
the universe, the God that created the universe, and the one that is
above all things and in all things, and if you ask, above you and me,
and way above Pachamama. It just does not make sense anyway you look at
it.
