“Some keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.
God preaches, - a noted clergyman, -
And the sermon is never long;
So instead of getting to heaven at last,
I’m going all along!”
- Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
In polite company the subjects of religion or politics are avoided. Just this once, however, I want to share with you my views on religion and the environment because I believe that this is so important. Although I am a Baptist boy with very deep roots in the American Baptist Convention, I must admit that my attitude towards going to church can best be summed up by Emily Dickinson’s poem. On a goodly number of Sunday mornings I can be found in the woods where I feel much closer to God than I do in my own congregation. I also come from the long tradition of New England transcendentalists. Henry David Thoreau is my hero.
Generally, when we hear the word stewardship in the sermon we assume that we are in for a long lecture about church finances; blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I have long thought that the word stewardship stood for something far more important. For I take stewardship to mean looking after the precious environment that God gave us. For me, it all comes down to how you interpret Genesis 1:26-31 which says:
26 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." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." 29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
I firmly believe that we all have a moral obligation to safeguard the environment. Further, I believe that as Christians we are directed by God to exercise stewardship over the world around us. In recent days more than 40 leaders of the very fundamentalist Southern Baptist Convention have signed the Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change. This is a truly remarkable step in the right direction. Imagine how far we can go if the church puts its authority behind responsibility for climate change. Imagine what could happen if we restore stewardship to its rightful place.
Today’s photograph of a jonquil is inspired by my dear friend Helen’s mother-in-law’s daffodils which are now blooming in her backyard.
April 8, 2008
Stewardship
March 17, 2008
Outrageous
Am I the only person who finds the following news item totally outrageous?
Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008 posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company - $40.6 billion - as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices at year's end. (Donna Mcwilliam - AP)
As good corporate citizens shouldn’t Exxon Mobil give a thought to their responsibility for climate change, especially considering the huge part they play in contributing to the problem? As they themselves point out, they’re drivers too! Surely they could spare, let’s say for the sake of argument, a billion dollars. Imagine for a moment what a billion dollars worth of research could do to further the development of a zero emissions electric or hydrogen fuel cell automobile. I’m just saying …
In keeping with progressive thinking about global warming the province of British Columbia has recently introduced an escalating carbon tax on most fossil fuels. This carbon tax will start at a rate based on $10 per tonne of carbon emissions and rise $5 a year to $30 per tonne by the year 2012.
This to me seems like a sensible solution. Our society is driven by money and it is money that has gotten us into the climatic mess we find ourselves in. Unless we change our fundamental values as a society, money is the only thing that is going to get us out of this mess. So by charging people for the carbon they produce we make them think about environmental responsibility in very real terms. Produce more carbon, pay more carbon tax.
I am thinking that many people will adjust there lifestyle in order to pay less carbon tax. If you are like me and ride a bicycle or walk to get where you are going you pay no tax. If you drive a socially unacceptable vehicle (S.U.V.) then you will be taxed at the rate that you use it. This seems like a fair and sensible way to make people pay for the environmental damage that they are responsible for. The province of British Columbia is to be commended for this forward thinking legislation.
January 28, 2008
Lights
There is a blizzard in the woods today. The next few weeks generally offer us the worst of our wintry weather, especially in terms of the cold. Today, with the wind and snow and sleet, things are pretty quiet in the forest. Not much to report.
In my previous post I mentioned that thinking about climate change is pretty glum business. I have struggled with trying to find ways to raise the subject among friends and acquaintances without turning them off. It’s like telling someone to eat their broccoli because it is good for them. The problem is we need to inspire people to take action in their daily lives in order to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps, small steps at first will eventually lead to the kind of social and environment change that we are going to need if we intend to reverse the effects of global warming.
Here is where Earth Hour 2008 comes in. I am quoting directly from their website.
“It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?
The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.
On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour.
With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.”
Such a simple thing. Just turn your lights off for one hour. Have dinner by candlelight. Go outside and look up at the stars. On March 29, 2008 at 8:00 PM just turn your lights off for one hour. Surely we can all do that. You can visit the Earth Hour website here:
I would encourage you to go to their website and register for this event. Tell you friends about Earth Hour. Encourage your workplace to participate. Get your local community involved. Stop the carbon dioxide madness for just a little while. You’ll be glad that you did.
Oh, and don’t forget to eat your broccoli …
