Save the trees

"At one time forests covered nearly 15 billion acres of land. But men have consumed and destroyed trees far more rapidly than the trees have been replaced by nature, with the result that approximately one-third of the original forests have disappeared. In most industrial countries wood is still being consumed more rapidly than it is being replaced by new growth--in Europe and America at a rate between 10 and 15 per cent faster than the rate of replacement."
~Harrison Brown, The Challenge of Man's Future, 1956, p. 128

Now, I need to see how those figures stack up today--this quote is 51 years old! But what an interesting bit of research it would be to see how this measures with today's rates of consumption and re-plantation.

God--Man--Nature

It seems that we have the following scenario: God...Man...Nature

Now here is the debate: Exactly what relationship does this produce? There are some who say that this causes Man to dominate and destroy nature. What he sees as an object he misuses, abuses, and refuses...

But I would pose this question: I don't misuse my car. I value it and try to take care of it--it's the only car I have (yes, my wife has a car also, but I don't have many cars at my own personal disposal).

I have a home. It's the only home I have. I take care of it, seal the windows, fix leaky spots in the roof. I take care of it.

I have clothes. I don't wear high fashion, but I don't have an unlimited budget either. So I wash my clothes, patch the holes that sometimes come, and sew back buttons that have fallen off.

You see my point? Just because God has given Man a position of dominance over Nature, this does not mean that we must abuse it either. Man values what he cares about. And, as Christians we value what our Lord values--and this earth is still His earth--therefore we should value it as He values it.

Fair-Trade Coffee and the Kingdom

Would Jesus drink coffee? I'm not sure if they had it in Bible days--my limited research on that seems to be 'no'...

But if Jesus were walking around today, would he drink coffee? And what kind?

Now you have to understand--I love coffee. Yes, I love Jesus. And I love coffee. I know--it's cheap to use the same word 'love' for things you like versus people you really love. I know...

But I think if Jesus were walking around today--he'd drink Fair-Trade coffee. Why? Because it's a great way for us in the West to say to those in developing countries--Hey, we care...

Fair-Trade is a great way to promote justice, a fair living wage, and puts dollar signs on compassion. I know it doesn't fix all the problems in the world, but maybe, just maybe, Juan Valdez will be able to send his kids to college because of it.

And that's good to the last drop!

Eco-Justice--a concept Christians should understand...

When it comes to global stewardship of the earth and its resources, it is fitting to show how the Christian faith promotes such activity (albeit historically this has not always been the case). And I think another dimension worth considering is that of 'eco-justice'.

Eco-justice gives a moral picture or flavor to environmental stewardship/management. Are we practicing justice towards future generations by our use of resources today. Yes--if we are doing the best of our ability to use those resources wisely and prudently. No, if we are acting and consuming as if there is no tomorrow (or, as if the resources are bountiful and unlimited).

Eco-justice also brings up another interesting point. For the developing nations around the world who want to 'play catch up' to our Western lifestyles of wealth and privilege, many of them may feel that the rope out has just been cut. Let's face it--the Western nations--or even moreso, the developed world, was made by huge amounts of resources that were consumed at unsustainable rates.

So this begs the next question: Is the Developed world standing up a foundation built upon the mismanagement of resources--and now, to be 'green' we are preventing the developing nations from digging out of their economic holes? Just a question...

Should SUVs be illegal?

Sometimes I see people driving big SUVs, and of course they're the only person in it, and I just think to myself--why???

I'd like to see a tax on any vehicles that have more than 4 cylinders...Kind of like a luxury tax, but if your car has 6 cylinders than you pay an additional amount of tax--if your car has 8 cylinders then you pay a greater amount, etc...

This would help 'steer' consumers towards smaller, more economical cars. And I say, why not?

The Lord's Prayer

When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, I think they got more than they bargained for. Look closely at the core of Jesus' prayer--it's this line that strikes me: "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven..."

When we consider those words--we're not asking for an escape from our circumstances! We're not asking for spiritual grit to endure until we can escape to a heavenly eternity. No, we're asking that all of heaven would in-break NOW--in every way.

That also has ramifications for how we treat the earth and the environment. Would Jesus care for the world--its people and its resources? Yes! Why? Because it is still God's world--and God's world is His in every way.

To me, it's impossible to separate caring for our world and walking in hand with the Savior.

John Calvin and Nature

Ever wonder how John Calvin approached eco-stewardship? Check out Alister McGrath's paragraph below:

"The first edition of the 1559 edition of Calvin's Institutes opens with discussion of one of the fundamental problems of Christian theology: how do we know anything about God? Even before turning to discuss this question, however, Calvin stresses that 'knowledge of God and of ourselves are connected' (I.i.I). Without a knowledge of God, we cannot truly know ourselves; without knowing ourselves, we cannot know God. The two forms of knowledge are 'joined together by many bonds'; although they are distinct, they cannot be separated. It is impossible to have either in isolation. This principle is of fundamental importance to an understanding of Calvin's strongly world-affirming theology: knowledge of God cannot be detached from, nor allowed to merge with, knowledge of human nature or of the world. A dialectic is constructed, resting upon a delicately balanced interplay between God and the world, the creator and his creation."

Alister E. McGrath, A Scientific Theology: Volume I Nature, Eerdmans Publishing Co., p. 273, 2001.

God's beauty all around us--a billboard to its Source?

What is your reaction to the quote below by C.S. Lewis regarding beauty as pointing to its Creator:

"The books of the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing.

These things--the beauty, the memory of our own past--are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers.

For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have not visited."

C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory" in Screwtape Proposes a Toast. London: Collins, 1965, p. 97-98.

Do you practice Shamar?

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." Genesis 2.15

Keep = Shamar (in the original Hebrew)--a word that means to keep, tend, honor, guard...

Here are two thoughts:
1. Obviously a way to express our love and gratitude to the Lord, we are given the opportunity to shamar the earth--a faith-expression of eco-stewardship...

2. Here's a deeper thought--what if, and I know this is what if, but what if God's first covenant with his creation (and humankind) was to prepare the humans to understand what it meant to shamar something...They were to shamar the earth--something that required due diligence, continual effort, and an intoxicating desire to tend what he has been given...

Let's dig deeper now--what if, this was to teach humans what it meant to 'keep covenant'--everyday, and in everyway---so that when God would later introduce more revelatory covenants with his people--they would understand that to keep covenant was to shamar. The same word is used over and over again in the Torah to describe man's need to keep/tend/protect/honor YHWH's covenant with his people. What better way to teach covenant responsibility than to establish a 'base-line' covenant that is expected of all people everywhere--to shamar the earth?

What is eco-justice?

"Eco-justice occurs where human beings receive sufficient sustenance and build enough community to enjoy harmony with God, each other, and nature, and where the rest of creation is appreciated not simply as useful to humanity but as valuable to God."

Deiter T. Hessel, "Preaching for Creation's Sake: A Theological Framework" in For Creation's Sake, Geneva Press, 1985, p. 115.

Tale of the Sands, Part Me

As I've been thinking about yesterday's post, it really describes my spiritual journey with Christ. I don't know what lies ahead, but I feel much like that little stream--wanting desperately to cross so many deserts to reach so many different peoples. My heart is so burdened for the people of Morelia, Mexico--and for the people of the Northeastern U.S.; and for the people of Europe; and for Africa.

All I can do is trust that my Lord Jesus will guide me as I am completely evaporating into Him. This requires trust and surrender--in a constant rhythm of life.

The Tale of the Sands

Recently, I ran across this wonderful illustration--enjoy!

The Tale of the Sands is about a little stream that wanted to cross the desert. Each time it tried it would be swallowed up in the hot desert sand. But one day a voice was heard reassuring the stream that it could cross the desert. When the stream inquired of the voice, this is what it was told.

"By hurtling in your own accustomed way you cannot get across. You will either disappear or become a marsh. You must allow the wind to carry you over, to your destination."

The stream could cross the desert by allowing itself to be absorbed in the wind. But the stream objected to this idea, since it had never been absorbed before. The stream wanted to maintain its individuality. If that were lost, how could the stream be itself?

"The wind," said the sand, "takes up water, carries it over the desert, and then lets it fall again. Falling as rain, the water again becomes a river."

The voice reminded the stream that its essential part is always being carried away to form a stream again, and this essential part is always elusive. So the stream raised its vapor into the welcoming arms of the wind, which bore it along gently and easily, letting it fall in the mountains miles away.

In this way, the stream learned its true identity from the sands which extend from the riverside all the way to the mountain. Thus it is said that the way traversed by the Stream of Life is written in the Sands.

(For Creation's Sake: Preaching, Ecology, & Justice. Edited by Dieter T. Hessel, The Geneva Press, Philadelphia, 1985, p. 53)

Father's Day--the toughest day of the my year

Dad if you're reading this, I wish you a happy Father's day. If you're totally oblivious, that's ok too.

As for the environment and theology--no new insights today. Just a sincere desire to help others to see how connected we are with everything.

Kansas City clouds up the sky with Ozone

Yesterday wasn't so good here in Kansas City. After predicting for some time that this would happen, the city exceeded its ozone limitations with too much air pollution...50cent bus rides went into effect, and car pooling was revisited in this morning's paper. I'm glad the city is concerned--it should be. Part of being a 'Good Samaritan' is learning to care for others--even people we never meet but affect by our air pollution.
Have a great day!
:)Brian

Subject--Object a problematic way to see things?

I was reading recently about Heidegger's thesis that when we operate from a subject-object worldview, we end up treating the earth as a tool instead of a living system that we are part of...

Now, I don't believe the earth is living--but it does have living ecosystems on it for sure. In fact, I think one could make a solid argument that the world (and universe) is decaying and dying (2nd law of thermodynamics) and we know that the earth is slowing down in its rotation (Wired Magazine had an interesting article a couple of years ago about that).

But, Heidegger seemed bothered by the utiliarian view that humans seem to have of the earth. He 'kicked against this' --what he called "Technodasein"--but saying that we should see ourselves as living poetry on a canvass called earth. Both are needed, and in his eyes, both are partners.

I'm not willing to go that far...I do think he brings up an interesting viewpoint, but I just can't let go of Imago Dei as referenced to humans in the scriptures. Yes we are formed from the earth. But to say equal partners is not where I'm willing to go.

Starting work on my dissertation

Ok, it's time to do some heavy lifting and read a bunch of stuff. I'm writing a dissertation on how Christians are to care for the earth as an expression of their faith in Jesus. I desire to look at the Biblical mandate(s) established by God for this responsibility, and then to demonstrate that Jesus' actions as portrayed in the Seven Miracles of the Gospel of St. John display his own eco-theologica bent. And as a model of what it means to follow God, we are to imitate his example.