last night i got together with a couple friends and headed down to the old walker theatre (i still can't call it the b.c.) to catch a lecture from one of canada's foremost champions of environmentalism; dr. david suzuki. after an awe inspiring anthem by raffi (played at least four times) the crowd had grown restless and were ready to hear the words of wisdom from the star of the nature of things.
while not everything that was spoken last night gripped me at my core, there were a couple of loud trumpet calls that rang in my ears. the first was the rampant consumerism that is prevalent in our society today. this has been no secret, but it was interesting to hear it from a different perspective. our ecological footprint is directly affected by the amount we consume...not just the waste we produce, but the stuff that we have. families today are half the size they were 40 years ago and we live in houses twice the size (with a bathroom for every person in the house). families have more than one vehicle (again some people have one for every person in the house). we measure our worth by the stuff that we have. our economics are based on the financial picture alone. we fail to take into account things like the affect our actions are having on our future, how peaceful, patient, grace-filled we are, how happy and loving we are becoming. these sorts of things do not fit in our economy. it is dollars and cents; baby...the other stuff is just window dressing. i am working to change this perspective in my own life. while i may not be prime minister and able to affect policy for the entire nation, i can affect my own family and the people i hold dear to my heart.
the second thing challenged me was to have a vision for the future. there were echoes of king solomon when david suggested that we need to have a picture of what we want our canada to look like. without a vision the people perish. do i want a future where the air is clean enough for my children to breath without fear of what invisible toxins threaten their health? the kind of air you fill your lungs with on the side of a lake in northeastern manitoba, more than50 kilometers from the nearest form of civilization? do i want a canada where you could drink the water from any stream and not wonder what sort of chemicals have been dumped in it or what sort of cancer i may develop from ingesting water that is not bottled and purified? when i think of my own city of winnipeg, i would love to see a greener, cleaner, healthier thriving metropolis.
wo what can i do to bring about this preferred future? what can i do to lighten the weight of my personal ecological footprint? well i have already begun to make some smaller changes in the way i live. i purchased a bicycle and will be using it as a primary mode of transportation to and from work in the spring. cutting down on the waste, of water, of energy, and of food is becoming more of a priority for me. the benefits far outweigh the costs...as a matter of a fact; it seems to be saving me money to be ecofriendly. i have signed up for the nature challenge. the challenge breaks down ten things we could do to lower our ecological footprint and bring us to a place of sustainability in a few short years. doing even three of these this year would make a huge difference.
when i look at our responsibility as stewards of god's creation, i wonder how we are living up to the challenge of tending the garden. creation is groaning...longing for the sons of glory to be revealed. i want to ease her groaning by treading a little more lightly on her soil. i want to take responsibility for my footprint and help ensure a beautiful creation for my children.
what about you?
while not everything that was spoken last night gripped me at my core, there were a couple of loud trumpet calls that rang in my ears. the first was the rampant consumerism that is prevalent in our society today. this has been no secret, but it was interesting to hear it from a different perspective. our ecological footprint is directly affected by the amount we consume...not just the waste we produce, but the stuff that we have. families today are half the size they were 40 years ago and we live in houses twice the size (with a bathroom for every person in the house). families have more than one vehicle (again some people have one for every person in the house). we measure our worth by the stuff that we have. our economics are based on the financial picture alone. we fail to take into account things like the affect our actions are having on our future, how peaceful, patient, grace-filled we are, how happy and loving we are becoming. these sorts of things do not fit in our economy. it is dollars and cents; baby...the other stuff is just window dressing. i am working to change this perspective in my own life. while i may not be prime minister and able to affect policy for the entire nation, i can affect my own family and the people i hold dear to my heart.
the second thing challenged me was to have a vision for the future. there were echoes of king solomon when david suggested that we need to have a picture of what we want our canada to look like. without a vision the people perish. do i want a future where the air is clean enough for my children to breath without fear of what invisible toxins threaten their health? the kind of air you fill your lungs with on the side of a lake in northeastern manitoba, more than50 kilometers from the nearest form of civilization? do i want a canada where you could drink the water from any stream and not wonder what sort of chemicals have been dumped in it or what sort of cancer i may develop from ingesting water that is not bottled and purified? when i think of my own city of winnipeg, i would love to see a greener, cleaner, healthier thriving metropolis.
wo what can i do to bring about this preferred future? what can i do to lighten the weight of my personal ecological footprint? well i have already begun to make some smaller changes in the way i live. i purchased a bicycle and will be using it as a primary mode of transportation to and from work in the spring. cutting down on the waste, of water, of energy, and of food is becoming more of a priority for me. the benefits far outweigh the costs...as a matter of a fact; it seems to be saving me money to be ecofriendly. i have signed up for the nature challenge. the challenge breaks down ten things we could do to lower our ecological footprint and bring us to a place of sustainability in a few short years. doing even three of these this year would make a huge difference.
when i look at our responsibility as stewards of god's creation, i wonder how we are living up to the challenge of tending the garden. creation is groaning...longing for the sons of glory to be revealed. i want to ease her groaning by treading a little more lightly on her soil. i want to take responsibility for my footprint and help ensure a beautiful creation for my children.
what about you?
peace to you,
scott
