I've been lazy and have gotten away from posts which have anything to do with being "green"! Sadly, in the rush of life, I've forgotten to be earth-conscious much of the time. But whenever we let go of something, it's because we've chosen to invest our time in something else we deem more valuable. My "treasure" has been my son. Since I've had to work in recent months, all my extra energy has gone to striving to love/train him well. And really, part of the work of caring for the earth is raising children who are conscious. So here's my question for the day: How can we raise a "green" generation? I'd love to hear your thoughts or practical ideas!
I love the term I just used--"conscious." If you've seen the movie Wall-E you know about its depiction of the human race (many years in the future) as fat, helpless, blind followers of what they are told. Now that is an extreme picture, but if we allow ourselves to grow lazy, we are heading in that direction. I want to raise Sam to be conscious... of His God and eternal things....of the beauty and the chaos that exists in the world...of the needs and emotions of all those around him. I think it is in this context that he will care about preserving the earth in the right way. I hope he will do his part not only to stop destroying the world, but to help bring it(and its inhabitants) healing and to truly enjoy its beauty. It seems to me that focusing merely on avoiding plastic might keep us breathing longer, but it will not help us feel the wind caressing our faces or smell the sweet summer honeysuckle. And it will certainly not yield the joy of giving food, shelter, medical care, and the gospel of Christ to an orphan. So though I will continue to live in a "green" way, and hope Sam will learn from this example, it is not my focus in educating him. I will teach him by exploring the outdoors, and pausing to study the ants. And when he gets in conflicts with his little friends, I will talk with him about his emotions and then ask him to think about the pain he has caused his friend whom he loves. And throwing food on the floor is a problem, not just because it's gross and wasteful, but because it's ungrateful for generousity of God's provision. (If we don't need/want something we have, we should give it to someone who does. Recycle!) And I'll tell him that though mama would enjoy some new shoes, she won't buy them until her old ones fall apart, so that she can help those that have real needs, not just American ones! ;) And then, (here's the most important part) I actually have to live this way. I need a lot of prayer. :)
4 comments:
Becca: you have the answers, all I can do is reenforce one. If you look at your childhood you can remember things your parents told you, but deeper down is not what they said, but what they did.
you are so right, grandpa. And it's much easier to say than it is to do. Thanks for your wise words... It's good to hear from someone who has more life experience.
I think it's helpful to teach them that less is more in so many different ways helps us to save our environment from overconsumption and inevitably filling up landfills with plenty of old toys. We try to buy only really good, educational or long lasting toys. The other ones go to the thrift store. Another thing our parents did but we're getting out of the habit of doing is teaching our kids to do dishes. Do dishes instead of buying plastic and paper all the time. Another simple thing is sending the kids outside to play. This is so simple but we've become so overwhelmed with fear in a 24/7 news generation that we're really afraid to let our kids out and enjoy/endure nature.
I'm sure there's tons more, but I love those answers that are close at hand.
Lovely post Becca. One thing that often comes to mind when I am trying to re-home things because while I like the item I find I don't use it as I thought I would or sadly I've gotten TOO FAT for it (-: or what have you, is to remember the simple injunction from the word, that if we have two coats, and another has none, give the person one. This is "re-cycling" a person at a time.
Also we have some odds thing happen like a person coming through her on a move, left a whole box of kitchen cleaners etc, not all of what we use, so it seemed the perfect thing to do to take such to church, or to ask any who stopped at our house, can you USE these things? Several were blessed just by having the small savings of not having to buy something they use. I've also found at the end of yard sales, that if I put a big sign saying FREE on what remains, those who take the stuff, always come across as gleaners of a sort...don't ya just love the concept of gleaning?
I know how you like to be rid of your stuff, but I've had a couple instances of late, where something I just hadn't been able to budge, turned out to be a need someone else had and had I gotten rid of the thing in "my timing" it wouldn't have blessed the person who got it...I'm finding sometimes I do play storage center for God
(-: and his timing. I still have much to learn from you in your prompt and wise dealings with these matters! You go Green Mama.
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