Musings on My Journey

There is a lot of talk these days about “going green”. I know that it’s hip to be green, and it is definitely the politically correct thing to be. Our environment is in peril from us. For me, however, this journey into green-ness wasn’t an intellectual decision, but a heart decision. I felt a deep sense of conviction to live my life more consciously and deliberately. I was convicted of a lot of things that were off balance within my every-day patterns and habits, not just the environmental ones. Ultimately my view of who I truly serve in this world had to change. I got rid of some consumerist idols, like money and trusting in money for security. I realized that I wanted to bow down to God in every aspect of my life and to have the heart of Jesus. I wanted, and craved, action within my Christian walk. I needed something more to my life than being saved and being ready to go to heaven. I felt a call to do, to put God’s word into everyday life. This shift in my thinking and feeling has altered how I interact with the world.

Whether or not you believe in global warming or in any attempt to “green” the planet, the choice to live more mindful of each other and our planet is just the right thing to do. We don’t trash our houses or put waste where we live and be, so why would we trash the very thing that holds us, sustains us, and allows us to breathe? If we trash the earth, we are trashing each other, we are trashing ourselves, and we are trashing God.

Green living goes so far beyond just Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. It reaches into our hearts and tells us to stop wasting our money on stuff while millions die each day from lack of food or medicine. It grabs our faces and allows us to look at what harm we have already done to each other and our world. Perhaps we begin to see what our choices mean a little clearer. "Does what I buy to eat impact others around the globe?" It hands us tools so that we can begin to work, and it brings forth a desire to do more and more, and to change. It’s not too late. We are God’s instruments of change. God can transform our hearts and minds, God can transform this planet with our help, and we can all be transformed by God - through our trash. Isn’t it always this way? - The paradox of healing coming through our wounds and our brokenness? Christ’s brokenness on the cross is the ultimate example of healing and life, through death. May we all continue to hunger after the heart of Christ, so that we too can provide some healing for our land and for ourselves.