My father would be almost ashamed if he could know the thoughts I've been having.  Not really, though.  I've been challenged recently by the haunting thoughts of a Christian brother who made a bold statement 3 or 4 months ago.  That statement, expressed in frustration, was "I don't know when it became uncool for Christians to care about the environment, but it is cool."  Christ calls us to be good stewards of what we have.  Part of this, I believe, is caring for the environment.

I'm not talking about freaking out and going to the extreme of wearing sandals, becoming vegans, and living in the woods, perched on a tree to keep it from being logged.  I'm talking about simple things like recycling pop cans, returning grocery bags to the drop off at Wal-Mart, driving in a way to save fuel, not wasting water, and those sorts of things.  Most of these things are common sense.  Save money, don't waste gas.  Save energy, don't leave the fridge door open.  It's more difficult to see the benefits of recycling cans, cardboard, and grocery bags, but I believe that it is there.

Part of me is leaning more and more towards the extreme.  And here is why.  Americans are wasteful.  Being in the construction business, I see a lot of waste simply because it is more cost effective to get new than to reuse the old.  Everybody wants new.  The people that are satisfied with imperfect and old don't get to see my lovely face.  New and big.  Bigger and better.  That is the style.  I'm almost happy that gas prices have jumped because now people are rethinking what they are doing.  People are forced to think about energy savings and the higher costs of transporation.  There is a drastic cut in waste.  I hope it last.

We live in a disposable society.  Everything is cheap enough that it is not meant to last.  Do we treat the environment that way?  Are we being good stewards of the earth if we waste so much?  Are we good stewards of our time and money?  By being a disposible society we are perpetuating a dangerous cycle and increasing our trust in that which is so temporary.  Oh, there are so many college papers that could come out of this topic.

My father was a typical conservative Republican Wyominite in his day.  And with that came the idea that "liberal, tree-huggers" were about the worst people there are.  Today, I think he would be less hard-core.  I think he would be more "conservative" as the word implies.  I think he would understand the need to care for the environment in which we live.  And I think he would be right to do so.

Cody