Green Peace

A few Sundays ago, the pastor at the church I have been going to spoke about Christians speaking up. I agreed with him about so many things and I want to share all of those things with you, but for now, I just want to touch on one of the thoughts that he had. So many times, we as Christians, find causes that are important to us, but seem silly to the rest of the world. We boycott Pepsi because they didn't print "In God We Trust" on their patriotic cans. We get upset because of something Disney does and they are always doing something. Are these important? Yes. But, the world is beginning to see us as silly Christians who have no idea about what is really important. So, I suggest, let Pepsi print whatever they want on their cans, you don't have to buy it. But, let's save our warheads for something more important. The pastor then suggested a few issues that we aren't speaking up on that we should be. The first one he said really stuck with me because I never even thought about it: the environment. The rest of the world is so concerned with the ozone layer and global warming and pollution and the use of alternative fuels and we don't care and the world is wondering why.

I once saw a movie about a Navajo shaman. Every morning the Navajo shaman would wake up before dawn and chant the world into being. He would chant for the sun to rise and the birds to sing. He respected nature. He revered nature. He believed that he had a part in nature. He wanted to walk in beauty on the outside, so that he could walk in beauty on the inside. He said that you could see holy people everywhere and in everything, especially in nature. So, he chanted and walked through the desert every morning. Because unless you speak, there is no world, and unless you move, there is no life.

As Christians in America, we don't think that we need to chant the world into being every morning. We know that the sun will rise and the birds will sing without our help. We don't feel an urgency to connect with nature. We don't even feel any kind of responsibility toward nature. "This world is not our home, we are just passing through," the old hymn says. Earth is only our temporary home while we wait for Jesus to prepare a mansion for us in Heaven. But, we have no idea how long it's going to be our home.

Maybe it's not our job to get up every morning and help the sun rise. Maybe we don't need to hold special ceremonies so it will rain. Maybe we don't need to have a festival to insure a good harvest. But, we do know who makes the sun rise every morning. We do know who makes the rain fall and the trees grow. We know who made this earth and everything in it. We know who lovingly molded the mountains and carefully carved the rivers and oceans. We know who controls the tides and knows every star by name. And, He did all for us. He did it so we could walk in beauty on the outside, so that we could walk in beauty on the inside.

What if we did join the world in their fight to save nature? What if we started speaking up about alternative fuels? What if we started to be concerned about the ozone layer? Heck, what if we just started reading up and educating ourselves on all these issues and started to take action? Do you think the world would start to take us seriously? Do you think they might start to have a little respect for us? I do. And do you know what people do for people they have respect for? They listen.