Stewards

Good morning Trinity Tribe,

I hope you are well this morning! We have had an interesting morning
so far! We have a Ford Expedition. It has been a wonderful car for
carpooling and for bringing friends home with us and of course moving
all our worldly possessions to Red Springs. However, in the last
several weeks it has refused to start. The battery keeps dying. And
Ford has had a hard time diagnosing it because when you jump the car,
it resets the computer inside the brain of the vehicle. So, today, it
was towed to the dealer dead as a doornail so that they can fix what
is wrong! (hopefully!) However, it did give us an opportunity to
walk to work today.

Yesterday, at a wonderful Laity Sunday, Roger Sheets reminded us why
driving a big car like that which only gets 18-25 miles to a gallon
isn't such a good idea. To be blunt, we are killing our planet with
our addiction to plastic and driving big cars and the like. God gave
us creation to live in yet we tear down the forests, drive animals to
extinction, and destroy mountains in order to burn coal.

The message is hard to hear. We feel hopeless. However, Psalm 71:5
reminds us, "For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my
youth." And Romans 15:13 tell us, "May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy
Spirit you may abound in hope."

There is hope. The earth does not have to be completely destroyed.
However, it will take actions from people like you and me. What are
we each willing to do? What conveniences are we willing to give up?
Could we stop using styrofoam? Could we walk to church or the bank or
the grocery store? Could we bring our own boxes for our leftovers
from restaurants? Could we bring our own fabric bags rather than use
the plastic ones at the grocery store? Let's share our ideas for
cutting down waste, plastic use, and ways to use less energy. If you
would like to continue the conversation Roger started yesterday, he
has several interesting videos that we could watch and discuss.

What are we willing to do to be good stewards of God's creation?