Recently my wife and I took a trip to the country of Iceland for our ten year anniversary. It was an amazing trip with awesome views, wonderful people, and great food. We loved learning about their culture and country. One interesting thing is Iceland has eliminated the use of plastic bags. Every supermarket required you take your own bags in or just take the groceries to the car. When I researched this I found the supermarkets in Iceland vowed in 2018 to eliminate all plastic bags by 2023. Check out the article here. It appeared to me they are already very close to reaching that goal. The people we talked to had positive things to say about removing plastic bags from their country. It was apparent that it happened very quickly and people just adapted. So why is plastic so bad for the world? 1. Plastic doesn't biodegrade so it photo degrades to small pieces covering the ocean. Marine animals mistake it for plankton because there is 6 times as much, which ends up killing animals when they eat it. 2. 10% of the plastic we use each year ends up in the ocean. The rest of it becomes waste we cannot get rid of. FYI the world uses somewhere between 500 billion to 1 trillion bags in one year. 3. The production of plastic uses about 8% of our oil resource. 4. Toxic chemicals leak out of plastics affecting people's health, groundwater, and environments. (Facts from The World Counts) For more information you can also check out this video by Discovery Channel talking about the impact of plastic on our world. It tells you what the Great Pacific Garbage Patch really is. In the US plastic is everywhere. It's almost a habit of all retail workers to automatically put items in a plastic bag for the consumer. Tons of products are encased in plastic bottles or plastic wrappers. So how do we reduce our use of plastic to make a healthier world and why? It seems if we are to really hold the principle of Sacredness of Creation we have to understand how what we do impacts the world. If marine life are significantly affected by something we produce than do we embody this principle? If our children's world is significantly unhealthier because of the choices we make today are we lifting this principle up? Let's explore this topic of Sacredness of Creation and why caring about our world is good for our spirituality. Enduring Principle Sacredness Of Creation In a past post "Sacredness of Creation" we highlighted the churches definition of the enduring principle. This definition tells us a lot about ourselves and the world. Defining it gives us ways to measure and understand what we are looking for as a principle. I have to wonder if sometimes we stop God from creating by doing things in this world that are harmful to it. When we negatively impact the earth does it limit creation? It seems greed is at the heart of much of the world's consumption. We are always wanting things bigger, better, and more convenient. And people are wanting to make more no matter the cost to the environment. I'm not going to lie I am a sucker for convience. It's so easy to throw away something thats broken instead of taking the time to fix it. But that may not be the best stewardship of our world. If our mindset is constantly thinking about the bottom line instead of the extraneous factors of how a product impacts people or the environment than are we doing an injustice to our world? But where is the line between hopeful desire and greed? For instance I enjoy going on adventures and exploring new things. I think one of the greatest things we can do it is explore and experience others cultures. However does the consumption of resources for this to happen become greed at some point? Should we be happy and at ease with what we have? I'm not sure there is a correct answer for this but something each of us have to figure out for ourselves. What do you think? Caring About Our World When we feel apart of the world or creation around us our spirituality is enhanced. We realize its not just me but we! We are in this together and we all are parts of the whole. Our spirituality can actually be connected to the environment. Jocelyn Mercado talks about this some in her article "The Spiritual Side of Environmentalism." Dr. Roger Gottlieb also discusses this in the article "Why Spirituality and the Environmentalism Need Each Other." It seems when we work towards positive solutions for the earth we are also deepening our spirituality. What does it mean to be spiritual? Is it not also being connected to our environment? I find caring for the earth and trying to conserve what I can, enhances my spiritual life. Its what we do as a society which shapes the culture we live in. If we choose to be more environmental friendly than there is a better chance others will too. Ways To Care For The World Here are just a few ways we can care for our world in our everyday lives. 1. Eliminate plastic straws from your life - Straws get stuck in marine animals noses. Check it out on youtube. You can buy reusable metal straws instead! 2. Ride your bike to work or carpool - Stops from submitting extra gases into the environment and gives you a great exercise. Just be sure to pack deodorant! 3. Shut off the water when you brush your teeth - Look down and notice the water running why you hum ABC. Shut it off and conserve the water! 4. Start Composting - Composting breaks down banana peels and other items creating very rich soil which can be used for gardening. It eliminates it from sitting in a trash bag for years. 5. Use Reusable Bags - Of course I couldn't leave this one out. Be like our Icelandic friends! 6. Avoid Printing - Get digital receipts, make notes on iPhone or ipad, and if you do print reuse the paper. I love reading actual books but digital books and audio books are excellent ways to save paper. 7. Do Not Use Styrofoam - Avoid cost saving efforts and get something that is able to be recycled. It's not that much more and is much better for the environment. 8. Use Real Coffee Cups - There is nothing more stylish than a good looking coffee mug! Find one you like and use it. I'm sure people will say something about it! 9. Eat Your Leftovers - I can't believe I have to even write this! I love leftovers but not everyone does. Leftovers stop us from using more materials for no reason. If you really can't go give them to someone who can. 10. Fix Things - Fixing things yourself does two things. It prevents other material from having to be used and you feel self accomplished. I'm so glad you all care so much about God's creation! Thanks for following along.
This week take up one of these or some other way to care for the world!
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In 2005 I took a trip with the organization Outreach International for 10 days to the country of Nicaragua. Outreach mission is about empowering the local communities to come together, access resources, and make decisions for themselves to better their communal lives. Outreach is located in ten countries and uses indigenous workers to begin mobilizing communities. The impact they have had has been incredible.
During the ten days our main job was to witness and observe the participatory human development process happening among the communities. We were not there to dig a well or help the people. They were helping themselves and our help would not empower them to do it themselves. In other organizations or many church mission projects, people go in and complete projects and leave. This leaves the local people the same without gaining skills and helping them become sustainable. So our objective was to just be.
The various communities we went into showed the various levels of the process happening among the people. Some communities had made substantial change while others were just in the beginning stages.
In one community in particular Los Alvores, they had built 50 new concrete homes with metal tin roofs about the size of a 12x12 room within the last three months. However this took five years for the community to get everything in place for it to happen. These were built so every family could have a house. The homes were dream homes for the residents in that community and they all worked hard to contribute to their cause.
We gathered with the community leaders when we arrived to hear about this project. They talked about a man named Jose who had the vision for the project and worked a great deal to get the resources so it could happen. His dream was to see every family spending time together in their own home. Standing before us was Jose’s father with tears in his eyes. He told us his son whose dream it was, would not be able to see it because he passed away. Jose had an abscessed tooth which he could not have fixed because of the lack of adequate dental care in the community. He died from not receiving proper care. Jose’s father asked for a moment of silence as we thought about his son and the dream he held for this community.
I stood looking at the eyes of Jose’s father. It was in those eyes where I empathetically felt his loss and pain. I could see the love he had for his son. Tears streamed down my face as I had translated “Your son was a great man, I'm sorry for your loss.” After the translation, he reached out and hugged me. It was in this moment that we were connected. We both lived in two different worlds, spoke different languages, and yet were bonded together by love. I began to understand how we are transformed when we empathetically share our lives and hearts with others.
Let’s explore the concept of empathetically connecting with others and using the gifts we have for good. Empathetically Connecting With Others Empathy is recognizing emotions in another while understanding their perspective and reality. Our first step should always be empathy! However so many times we get caught doing the opposite. “Suck it up”, “brush it off”, “don’t let it bother you.” There’s nothing wrong with trying to be tough however it discredits our emotions and moves us further away from identifying and addressing them when they happen. Empathy is something everyone can do and it doesn’t take long. Many times people just need to know they are heard and cared for. The only concern is if you are someone that takes on the emotions of another which can sometimes be problematic. For more information check out this article by Marcia Reynolds “Can you have too much empathy?” For the majority of people empathy is a way to connect with others and compassionately listen.
The research on how empathy can improve our quality of life has been looked at extensively. Empathy is also the cornerstone of emotional intelligence which has been researched as the biggest indicator for career success. It goes hand in hand with listening to those around you. If you want to become more empathetic go to “Six Habits of Highly Effective People” which identifies six things we can develop in ourselves to become more empathetic.
Using Our Gifts For Others Jose would have been able to see his dream complete if he had received adequate dental care. It makes we realize the drastic economic and cultural differences in our world. It doesn’t mean we have to give everything away and live like that part of the world but we do need to be mindful of what and how we are consuming. And more importantly how are we using the gifts we have to positively impact those around us. I know many nurses, dentists, and other providers that take trips to impoverished countries to give proper care. This is a great service, but we all do not have those certain gifts or the ability to go to another country.
We each have our own unique gifts which can bring service or joy to people around us. Maybe its telling others jokes to keep them light hearted, or maybe its completing a small house project for someone that can’t or doesn’t know how. Using our gifts for others benefits the communities we are in and provides more opportunities for us to empathetically connect with people. We actually get to be God’s hands and feet when we use what we have learned and been given.
I will leave you with his awesome video about the happiness we receive when using our gifts to help others. I think it’s actually a Thai life insurance advertisement ?! However it does an amazing job of showing what it means to connect empathetically and help others as we can.
I hope you are all enjoying your summer! If you want to spend a week focusing on your relationship with God get signed up for Reunion. Go this Reunion Directory to find one near you. I promise you will not regret your decision.
This week take some time to look at all the great work Outreach International is doing by visiting their website. You can even donate money by buying a chicken or a goat for one of the communities which helps them become more sustainable. |
Please Note The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Community of Christ. We believe individuals should be allowed to have their own opinions and be at different places in their faith journey.
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