Devotional 2-25-11

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."   --Genesis 1:26

"The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope. --Wendell Berry (born in Kentucky in 1934, author and farmer)

Caution--this may get a little preachy!

What have you done today to care for the earth that God so lovingly provided for you and me? What did you do this morning with your empty cereal box? Toss it in the garbage? I know what you're thinking, Give me a break--it was just one cereal box! But look at it this way--what if every family in our state threw one cereal box into a pile. Would you tell your children or grandchildren to go play on that pile of boxes? Now add to that pile all the recyclable things you throw away in a day:

newspapers, magazines and junk mail,
egg cartons, Starbucks cups, fast-food cartons,
yogurt, cottage cheese, and other such containers,
peanut butter jar, soup and other tin cans,
plastic milk containers, plastic water bottles and soda bottles, aluminum cans,
glass jars, wine bottles,
cardboard boxes--the mac and cheese box, pizza box, toothpaste box, shipping boxes,
detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, ketchup bottles,
on and on and on..................

Still want to send the kids out to play in that pile of trash?

Recycling is not just for Old Hippies or New Age Seekers. Recycling is for everyone. Especially for those of us who claim to be God's people. Don't we want to take care of God's amazing creation?

If your community doesn't have a recycling program, demand one! There are certain businesses that provide recycling bins. It is not that much trouble to take your trash to those bins if you don't have curbside recycling.

How about your business? How about your church? Are we serious about "saving the earth" or not?

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.   --Cree Indian Proverb

Anita Gardner Farrell