What a weekend. The transformation of me continues. I went to the Ecoshow in Auckland at the weekend. There were some very innovative adn visionary people there who were very encouraging. Grat composting methods, rammed earth homes, eco friendly paint, permaculture gardening, the list goes on. THe whole time I was frustrated that I can't do more of this now. tHere was a distinct lack of info for thise of us in urban areas without much land. However I did feel very motivated to make a few more changes on the road to greeny land.
One thing I felt afterwards was that I desperately wanted to get dreds and show the world the conversion that was happening within me. That lasted about 2 minutes before I thought through the implications of dreded hair. I think humans tend to do extreme quite well because we want to know where we stand, whose in and whose out and what is wrong and what is right but unfortunately very little in life is that simple. So I will continue to struggle through this stuff without dreds but hoping to make a gentle difference and encourage seemingly normal people to be a bit more radical in the way they live.
For every green issue I think I have sorted in my head another complication arises so I have to trust that my muddling along in a rather meandering fashion is going to make some sort of difference and hopefuly God and creation's grace will cover the rest.
Monday, 7 March 2005
Thursday, 3 March 2005
I have been snowed under at work and it does not seem to be getting better yet but I want to keep blogging. There is always something to keep me from it!
About 2 weeks ago I went to a conference on environmentalism and Christianity. Never the twain shall meet you may say. I have grown up in family where the environment and God were inextricably linked. The creation shouts about God's glory adn love for us as well as revealing hsi character, especially his sense of humour. Have you ever thought about the pelican or the sloth? We could learn a lot from the sloth in the world we live in now.
Anyway the conference brought together a very wide variety of people, from people with degrees longer than their arms to plebs like me who just have a gut feeling that christians should be doing more to care for the environment. Some parts of the conference were very challenging, such as the lessons we can learn from the ecological colapse of Easter Island. How can we just be going about our lives like normal when the reality is that the clock is ticking and many scientists are saying it is too late to save ourselves from our own over-consumtion?
The wonderful thing about the conference is that as Christians we have hope. Not a hope which depends on God transporting us to another world cause we've wrecked this one but a marvellous creator who through his grace has allwoed humans to have some part in the future of creation. There were lots of gifted and passionate people who want to see more action from Christians adn I believe it will happen.
Personally I am feeling all the more challenged ot live differently. to live a radical life which may seem incredibly uncool ot the students I teach. One girl said to me that she felt sorry for my children because she thought I would dress them in home made tie dyed T-shirts adn hemp collotes. Passibly, but isn't that the point? We should be living for the good of all not just the personal sel esteem issues of one. So I aim to challenge my self to embarass myself for the envoronment or at least to try to put the big picture above my own insecurities about the clothes I wear, the food I eat, the house I live in and the other things I own.
Another challenge I felt was the reality that developing coutnries cannot develop. tHere is not enough to go round. For 2 thirds world countries to improve their food supplies, education, health adn overall standard of living the west will have to give up some of its wealth and the process of development may cause the destruction of ecosystems on which people depend. So what should we do? I vite for revolution. I can because I am an irrational dn idealistic woman. But somethings got to give. If we carry on like this it will be like watching a train wreck in slow motion. And when oil stocks start to run out and there is no food at Foodtown I know I would rather be a subsistence farmer than living in an apartment in Auckland central. THe clock is ticking and it just won't stop. as christians we are always aware of this as we wait for Jesus' return but what are our responsibilities now?
About 2 weeks ago I went to a conference on environmentalism and Christianity. Never the twain shall meet you may say. I have grown up in family where the environment and God were inextricably linked. The creation shouts about God's glory adn love for us as well as revealing hsi character, especially his sense of humour. Have you ever thought about the pelican or the sloth? We could learn a lot from the sloth in the world we live in now.
Anyway the conference brought together a very wide variety of people, from people with degrees longer than their arms to plebs like me who just have a gut feeling that christians should be doing more to care for the environment. Some parts of the conference were very challenging, such as the lessons we can learn from the ecological colapse of Easter Island. How can we just be going about our lives like normal when the reality is that the clock is ticking and many scientists are saying it is too late to save ourselves from our own over-consumtion?
The wonderful thing about the conference is that as Christians we have hope. Not a hope which depends on God transporting us to another world cause we've wrecked this one but a marvellous creator who through his grace has allwoed humans to have some part in the future of creation. There were lots of gifted and passionate people who want to see more action from Christians adn I believe it will happen.
Personally I am feeling all the more challenged ot live differently. to live a radical life which may seem incredibly uncool ot the students I teach. One girl said to me that she felt sorry for my children because she thought I would dress them in home made tie dyed T-shirts adn hemp collotes. Passibly, but isn't that the point? We should be living for the good of all not just the personal sel esteem issues of one. So I aim to challenge my self to embarass myself for the envoronment or at least to try to put the big picture above my own insecurities about the clothes I wear, the food I eat, the house I live in and the other things I own.
Another challenge I felt was the reality that developing coutnries cannot develop. tHere is not enough to go round. For 2 thirds world countries to improve their food supplies, education, health adn overall standard of living the west will have to give up some of its wealth and the process of development may cause the destruction of ecosystems on which people depend. So what should we do? I vite for revolution. I can because I am an irrational dn idealistic woman. But somethings got to give. If we carry on like this it will be like watching a train wreck in slow motion. And when oil stocks start to run out and there is no food at Foodtown I know I would rather be a subsistence farmer than living in an apartment in Auckland central. THe clock is ticking and it just won't stop. as christians we are always aware of this as we wait for Jesus' return but what are our responsibilities now?
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