I have heard it called an African proverb, a First Nations proverb, or something dreamed up in the last fifty years. Whatever, I still like it.
"We have not inherited the earth from our parents. We have borrowed it from our children."
These simple statements help me stay focused that I am a dweller in the present that should keep my eyes on the future since that is where I will be living if I do not die today and where my children will be living as long as they do. Therefore the condition of the world in which we will all be living tomorrow should be of some concern to me. Worrying about the past and dwelling on the blunders it contains are a waste of time except to teach me how to live in the present and the future.
Psalm 24:1 is enough of a foundation for me to understand that where I am living is not mine. It belongs to Someone else and I am only a steward. That means I will probably be held accountable for what I do to this home of mine someday. I would like to say that I did my best to take good care of the place and tried to set the right example for those who would follow.
You cannot escape the original command that God gave the first man and woman. "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it." I think that means bring it under your control because it isn't yet. So how do we as Christians respect the Owner of creation even while we are subduing it? I don't think Adam had quite the paradise we would like to think, but he was supposed to remember that he was not the owner, only the caretaker.
Going green for a Christian in the day to day stuff ought to be easy. Suggestions include:
1. Eat only what you need.
2. Have only the clothes you need.
3. Have a domicile only as big as you need.
4. Use only the utilities you need.
5. Drive a vehicle only as big as you need.
6. Collect only what you need.
7. Give away all you can.
8. Compost all you can.
9. Treat your body well. It's the only one you'll have on earth.
10. Treat the earth well. It's the only one your body will have on which to dwell.
How many pages could we draw up of suggestions that would include reusable versus throwaway, biodegradable versus never-going-away, emphasizing renewable versus non renewable? A lot at least!
We as Christians should not need a long list of commansds or even suggestions. Churches should have the same mindset. The earth is the Lord's. Respect the Owner. Respect his property. Makes sense to me.
