Be a Green Steward

With the beginning of each new school year, comes a new science class. And attending a Christian school, there is always a chapter about Biblical worldview and the Creation Mandate. Though I don't blindly follow every extrapolation drawn from certain passages, I do agree with many of the science teacher's views about being "green" as part of the creation mandate.

Genesis 1:27-29 TNIV
So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."

These verses stem the idea of the Creation Mandate. Essentially, God is telling the first couple (who were equally representative of God's image; God's image being incomplete without said equal representation,) to rule over, have dominion, or take care of the animals, plants, and the earth itself that God created. There are very few Christians who would believe that humans have no responsibility to care for the earth, though some more obstinate people balk at the idea because they associate "being green" with liberalism, paganism, and general conformity to the world. Another argument that has been made is that Christians should be looking to Christ's return and the new heaven and new earth, and that taking care of our current world is unimportant or worthless. Certainly scientists who believe the Bible would not make such arguments. Part of Ruling is having a good understanding of what it is exactly that you are ruling. Part of that is expressed by learning about biochemistry or astrophysics, for example, but part of it, we already know.

We know that the Industrial Revolution caused a massive increase in pollution that is steadily rising. We know that the ozone layer has been damaged because of pollutants that were ignorantly released into the atmosphere. Even if you didn't see the use of caring for the earth because it is not our final spiritual destination, one would surely believe in the sanctity of human life because God made humans "in the image of God." Part of the function of the Ozone layer is to protect the earth from excess radiation from the sun. UV Radiation is widely accepted to cause various types of cancer which may, or may not be terminal. In essence, reducing the pollutants in the air could help to preserve human life, which is always desirable.

A second area that sadly, many are severely lacking in is simply recycling. I can attest to this personally. I have watched people throwing recyclable bottles into the trash rather than the proper receptical at school so often that I find it embarrassing and appalling. In fact, recently I was so fed up with these observations that I sorted the recycling out of several of the trash cans in my school and disposed of them properly. The worst part of the whole situation, was that the garbage was located right next to a recycling bin!

While some Christians may feel that they are exempt from trying to conserve resources such as paper and plastic, either because they are "created by God for our use," or promoted by secular parties, I would argue that recycling is a vital part of humanity's obedience to God. for example, throwing plastic bottles into a trash can instead of a recycling bin would be creating more surface waste on the planet because not all plastics are biodegradable. Throwing paper into a trash can instead of recycling causes more trees to be cut down faster, aiding in the depletion of oxygen and increase in carcinogens which damage our bodies, and decreasing the quality of human life. Failing to deposit plastic grocery bags or newspaper protectors into the proper recycling receptical allows them to be carries by the wind to places where they impede traffic, suffocate animals, or even cause distractions to drivers and pedestrians which can lead to the death of one or more individuals. All of these examples would also be examples of poor stewardship of the earth because it is creating unnecessary waste and unnecessary consumption of resources. By recycling the plastic products, we save more petroleum compounds which can also release toxins into the atmosphere. By recycling paper, fewer trees must be cut down as often, and the trees which are turned into paper can be re-purposed over and over to promote optimal preservation of forests which are the homes and food sources for thousand of species of animals and other plants.

The last part, is that neither of the previous two points are too far out of your way or too difficult to accomplish. Most public areas have recycling stations for both paper and plastic, and a vast majority of privately owned businesses and schools do as well. Using products that are free of harmful pollutants are usually not that much more expensive than those which have the potential of being less environmentally conscious. Maybe part of the problem is simply being to ego-centric and selfish. trying to live a lifestyle that promotes a cleaner, more efficient earth provides a better world for those living around us as well as our posterity. When you consider that the generations following ours will have to deal with the problems created or not solved by our generations, we should have a reality check. Maybe we should clean up our own mess so to speak, as well as lightening the load of previous generations that future generations will one day have to shoulder. Bearing up one another in love is never wrong. Recycling is another way to love God, and love people.

Forty-Two

I love coffee, and I love tea. I like black tea, chai tea, herbal teas, but particularly green tea. If I had to choose to drink only one beverage for the rest of my life, I would choose green tea. Now, this is a big deal because I am a caffeine addict and I am readily willing to admit this to anyone who would accuse me of being such. I adore coffee! J'aime particulièrement mon café au lait ! It makes me very very sad that Starbucks doesn't have café au lait on their main menu. You have to ask for it especially. For those of you who may not know, café au lait is a delicious combination of espresso and steamed milk (or in my case soy milk due to my current intolerance) in exactly equal proportions, which originated in France, (hence he French name,) and is traditionally drunk unsweetened and at breakfast either by itself or with a lightly buttered croissant. From my own past experience, it also goes extremely well with a biscotti, which originate from Italy, and for the sake of only talking about 1 foreign nation at a time, I will not bother to give a history of.

So why am I choosing green tea when I clearly love coffee so much? I would have to say for the health benefits. Green tea is full of antioxidants, which eliminate cancer-causing free radicals from your body, and help to boost your metabolism which means you can eat that biscotti every now and then without it making you fat. Seeing as I am a health freak with a little family history of cancer, both of those are rather important to me. Oh, and did I mention that it tastes delicious? Green tea comes in a vast innumerable quantity of flavors, some of the best being the combinations which include pomegranate, orange, lemon, blueberry, strawberry, grape, and acai. Which one is my favorite? Right now, I like original, plain, green-tea-flavored green tea the best. Usually I drink it oh-so-boringly sweetened with fiber, anti-oxidant, and B vitamin enhanced Splenda, which appeases my maybe-slightly-irrational-but-still-mostly-reasonable fear of cancer.

Today I came back home from hanging out with one of my best friends all weekend. I decided that since I had a lot of coffee this past weekend, I would make myself a cup of green tea for a little variety. So I pulled out my rather large box of plain green tea bags and noticed a tiny shadow on the lid of the box. I looked a little bit closer and it occurred to me that it was a dent. Upon further examination I realized that there was a very small "42" imprinted on the box. This brought a truckload of questions to my mind. "What is this? What is it doing here? What does it mean? What is it saying? What does it want? etc. 42. what does 42 have to do with tea? 42..."


That was when I noticed that the box said it contains 40 tea bags. Well those numbers certainly are close in the numberalphabet aren't they? I decided to count the tea bags and guess how many their were? 42... but the box said 40. Maybe its like a baker's dozen. A dozen is 12 for all of you metric-speaking humans.In medieval Europe, if royalty or noblemen purchased a dozen cakes or loaves of bread or something else like that from a baker and the baker didn't give them all 12, he could get imprisoned, or beheaded. Traditionally, lower class people were barely educated, so the counting skills of a commoner might not be completely pristine. To avoid unintentionally gypping the nobility, many would put 13 of whatever it was into the order for every 12 they were supposed to make. No one is going to kill you for giving them extra pasties, right? Eventually, the term "baker's dozen" became accepted to mean 13. I highly doubt the CEOs of Salada Tea would receive capital punishment for only including 39 tea bags in the box. Really now, how any people (other than me) care enough to count their teas? Maybe the reason is similar to the reason why companies who manufacture microwaveable products or other food include a message that says "Caution: Product may be Hot." Is everyone that afraid of getting sued?

My observation is rather simple. In order for our lives to work, we have to allow for a bit of give and take. We spend too much time jumping on people who have "wronged" us to think that maybe they just made a mistake. We need to learn to love people. As one of my teachers put it, "Love is going easy on people, and love is being patient with the people who annoy us." Why is it that we have to spend so much time worrying about the possibility that something we say will offend someone somewhere? Maybe if the world would just relax for a moment and stop keeping its nickers in a twist, we would stop focusing on ourselves so much, and relax enough to care about someone else for a change. When we take everything personally and demand that WE GET THE TREATMENT WE DESERVE OR ELSE, MISTER! We really drain the enjoyment out of life. If there is someone out there getting upset that thy paid for 40 packets of green tea but there was a miscount, relax. How many times have you bought a box with an extra 2? Maybe you should give the tea people a break. Just be chill. The universe isn't out to get you. The tea company isn't trying to rob you of $0.05. Focus on giving back to your community rather than trying to take everything it can give you. Be easy on people. Wouldn't you appreciate it if someone cut you slack when you mess up sometimes? Treat people the way you want to be treated, and eventually you will gain their love and respect.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

This is not the only problem we need to face. But if you try to live this way, you will notice a difference in yourself. I know I have noticed the change in my own life. I can forgive more easily, I can hope more easily, and I can give people the benefit of the doubt more often. This is not the only thing that humanity has yet to learn, but love might just be the answer to life, the universe, and everything.