Day 4
Simplicity
Spend time with the photo
Photo credit: K. Rafferty
The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.
God is the ground, the substance, the teaching, the teacher,
the purpose, and the reward for which every soul labors.
Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
To proclaim the greenness of the Judeo-Christian tradition, we don’t need to have a reformed foundation document or to make up a new one. We simply need to read with new eyes the Hebrew Scriptures, the Genesis story, Job, the prophets, the Psalms into the New Testament, to find where God continually demonstrates deep concern for all creation.
Brayton Shanley, founder with his wife Suzanne
of the Agape Community, Hardwick Ma.
and co-author of Loving Life on the Margins: The story of the Agape Community.
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The universe unfolds in God. There is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf,
in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face.
The ideal is to discover God in all things.
Pope Francis in Laudato Si' (233)
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Today, play a game:
When you encounter a "single-use" item (ship-wrapping, food container, take-out utensils, - anything you’ll use just once) take a moment to
(1) estimate how long you use it, from the time you get it, til you throw it away.
then compare that to
(2) how long did it take to create it from start til it reaches your hand, (and how much energy to make it happen) and then
(3) estimate how long it will be until it is back to raw-material stage *.
*Many single-use items are plastic. The average time it takes for a plastic bottle to completely degrade is estimated at 450 years. From: howstuffworks.com
Start saying "No, thanks" to single-use items, especially plastic ones (bags, cups, containers, straws, etc.)