A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 24 and 25

Day 24 - Counsel your local [city] council. Thank them for their recycling facilities but ask them if they could provide any more.

Day 25 - Who works hardest in the house? Mom? Dad? No, the fridge. It's churning away 24/7. Treat it to a good de-icing to make sure it's running efficiently.

Yesterday I was wrapped up with new parish business and did not take time to observe my own blogging discipline. It's a good warning sign, actually. One's best intentions for a deeper spirituality can get overtaken by the absolutely legitimate affairs of the world. Even Jesus is reported to tried to go away to pray, but the crowds found him and he couldn't say no to them. Of course, none of us are Jesus, and so we have to be far more intentional - and sometimes insistent - in taking care of our own selves so that we can take care of others.

So today can you write a letter or email to your local town council, recycling authority, or some other government entity and urge them to keep recycling, reuse, and other eco-improving initiatives on the front burner? The browning of our world is not any one person's - or any one corporation's or any one government's - fault. All of us are going to have to do our share to be the good stewards of creation that we are entrusted by God to be. So that means we can't - as I have been to a large degree - be oblivious to the issues at hand. Even one letter, with a copy to the local paper, can begin to get others to think and act as well.

And while you're waiting for a reply, go check your fridge and see if it needs to be de-iced. Careful in the freezer, though - you can damage some of the older models where's ice buildup if you chip at it. Let it thaw itself and you can usuaully lift out the big ice pieces without a problem.

O Lord our God, you sustained your ancient people in the wilderness with bread from heaven: Feed now your pilgrim flock with the food that endures to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ