October Thoughts

​I have been reading David Suzuki’s book The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature.  I think that what he has to say fits well with our Christian responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation: of the environment, our resources including financial, economic, spiritual gifts and skills, our families, our power and authority and of our responsibility to those different from us, the Other.  It fits with the Great Commandments to Love God, to love our neighbor, to love ourselves and to love all of God’s creation.
 
I want to be able to breathe fresh clean air. I want my nieces and nephews and their children to be able to breathe clean fresh air. I want all children around the world to be able to breathe clean and fresh air. Our right to clean fresh air trumps your right to make money at the expense of clean fresh air.
 
I want to be able to drink fresh pure water. I want my nieces and nephews and their children to be able to drink fresh pure water. I want all children around the world to be able to drink fresh pure water. Our right to drink fresh pure water trumps your right to make money at the expense of fresh pure water.
I want to be able to grow and eat fresh healthy fruits and vegetables. I want my nieces and nephews and their children to be able to grow and eat fresh healthy fruits and vegetables. I want all children around the world to be able to grow and eat fresh healthy fruits and vegetables. Our right to be able to grow and eat fresh healthy fruits and vegetables trumps your right to make money by control of our food sources or at the expense of uncontaminated soil.
 
I want access to clean energy that does not pollute the environment.  I want my nieces and nephews and their children to have access to clean energy that does not pollute the environment.  I want all children around the world to have access to clean energy that does not pollute the environment.  Our right to clean energy that does not pollute the environment trumps your right to make money at the expense of the environment.
 
I want to be able to love and to be loved without judgment.  I want my nieces and nephews and their children to be able to be loved and to love without judgment.  I want all children, all people around the world, to be able to love and to be loved without judgment.
 
I have not got this all figured out.  I do not have the best wording.  Basically I feel that our society, our culture is too economically centered.  Could this be our idol?  We need to consider the needs of our customers, the needs of our employees, the needs of our families, the needs of our environment, and the needs of our neighbors and then come up with a feasible, sustainable solution.  The bottom-line should not be the primary guiding principle.  We need air, water, the fruits of the soil and energy to survive.  The rest are wants, not needs.
 
I like my nice home and car and a good vacation as much as the next person.  I have investments and like a good profit or gain on my investments.  But how can I learn to trust that I have enough?  When will I have enough?  How can I change my wants for me into my wants for my neighbor and for the stranger?  And how can I do this without destroying God’s creation?