The approach of on Monday comes with a couple of alarming news stories ringing in our ears. One is that an international panel of scientists has declared that in order to keep the rise in the atmosphere鈥檚 overall temperature to less than 1.5 Celsius degrees 鈥� regarded as a 鈥渢ipping point鈥� towards catastrophe 鈥� there has to be 鈥渞apid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.鈥澨�
Translation: change our ways, or change will be forced on us.
The other story is actually a bit easier for us plebeians to grasp: that of a dead whale, which was discovered to have 40 kilos of plastic in its stomach. The plastic 鈥� at least some of it, consisting of shopping bags -- had prevented it from eating and it died malnourished and sick. It was reinforcement of warnings we鈥檇 been hearing for years, about 鈥渟eas of plastic鈥� in the oceans around the world. (Heck, when the ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl made his 鈥淩a鈥� expeditions in the late 1960s, he reported that there was not one part of the ocean where he did not see evidence of human-caused pollution.)
Add to that, the revelation that, in some parts of the United States, plastic that had been intended for recycling is going into landfills, because the recycling facilities are beyond capacity. China, which had been the biggest customer for recyclable plastic, has stopped taking it. Its facilities, too, can鈥檛 handle the amount.
The reports about the plastic should give us pause, because one of the very first things we humans tried to do back in the late 60s was recycle materials. We and our parents lobbied local governments to set up recycling programs, then diligently separated our glass, paper and plastic (making sure newsprint and 鈥渇ine鈥� paper were not mixed together) and sent them off to those programs. We鈥檝e been doing that for fifty years.
I remember having to haul material several blocks to find a recycling bin when my own apartment complex didn鈥檛 have one, and expressing near-judgmental dismay when I learned that a community I was visiting didn鈥檛 have a program.听
Yet we听蝉迟颈濒濒听have seas of plastic, a whale, dying with plastic bags in its stomach, and even little bottom-feeding sea creatures with micro-bits of plastic in their tiny intestines.
It appears that even recycling, that most basic of grass-roots environmentalist actions, hasn鈥檛 helped.
Could it be that 鈥渙ur way鈥� of saving the earth from humanity is not doing the job? But what else is there?
I鈥檓 glad you asked.
In the Book of Genesis, we鈥檙e told that the purpose for which God created humans was to 鈥渢end the garden (of Eden) and keep it鈥� (Genesis 2:15 NKJV). So if you鈥檙e wondering what the meaning of our existence is, here it is: to nurture God鈥檚 creation: 鈥渂e fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it鈥� (Genesis 1:28 KJV). And how well have we done that job? Not very. We have been, not to put too fine a point on it, disobedient. Disobedience to God is sin.
It鈥檚 fitting that Earth Day this year comes just after Easter, because for Christians, Easter is that annual reminder that, in His love for us, God has provided an 鈥渙ut鈥�: a way to recognize our disobedience and move forward. The sacrifice Jesus made on the Cross and His subsequent resurrection give us the avenue to repent and start over, with a new commitment to taking care of God鈥檚 creation as He intended us to in the first place.
And God doesn鈥檛 leave us to work things out alone: He gives us instructions in His word (the Book of Leviticus is a great example) on how to manage the land. The instructions boil down to balance, nurturing, care, and the avoidance of greed; considering others more than yourself; looking up at Him, not down at the ground.
And even if we鈥檙e not tillers of soil,听per se,听ourselves, that really doesn鈥檛 matter, because God promises us 鈥淚f My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.鈥� (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)
Seek God鈥檚 face?
罢丑补迟鈥檚听it?
Yes.
The way I read that, if we turn to Him and truly listen to Him, He will tell us what we need to do, and He will pick up the slack from there. It鈥檚 a simple, personalized (you don鈥檛 have to wait for someone else to act), and inexpensive 鈥渞apid, far-reaching and unprecedented change in society鈥�.
Drew Snider is a writer and former broadcaster who pastored for ten years on Vancouver's Downtown East Side. He's an occasional guest speaker at churches and writes a blog, ""
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking,
Photo of beach by听听辞苍听
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