MY impact?

A lot of the rhetoric these days around activism and helping people focuses on this idea that every person can "make a difference." In some ways this language is helpful (it reminds people that God can use even the smallest action to do amazing things, for instance), but in other ways it is incredibly destructive. It puts all of the pressure on US--it is the person who is making the difference, not the God who is working through her/him. It's an incredible amount of pressure, to feel that each person must go out and almost force change to happen, or that each person must make change despite their pitiful contribution or unresolved sin or finite amount of time.

Yes, the actions of each person are so important--God cannot act if we do not choose to act! But God's actions are so much more vital. God is the one who is changing hearts, fighting the spiritual battles, giving us strength when we have none, opening doors, making possible the impossible, pointing out problems that no one sees...

God is the one who will create change. So when you feel that you cannot possibly make a difference, that you don't have enough money or energy or time or anything else, just remember that God is the one who does all the real work. You will not fail or succeed based on your own strength or intelligence or passion.

Trash

Trash is something that we simply accept as part of modern life. What would we do without disposable ... well, everything?

Think about it. What do you use that can be used only once or a few times?
-paper plates and napkins
-trash bags
-contact lenses
-play programs/church bulletins/class handouts
-plastic bottles and containers (for soap, food, toys, gadgets....)
-aluminum cans
-wrapping paper
-tissues
-"to-go" food and drink containers...

I'm sure I could have thought of more. The average American produces 4.5 pounds of trash every day!! That is just beyond ridiculous. (The problems this creates are also ridiculous: this trash must be either buried or burned, but we're running out of places to bury it, and there's so many chemicals in everything that burning it is literally dangerous. A lot of this waste ends up being shipped to other countries, where poorer people get to deal with it. There is almost literally an island of trash in the Pacific Ocean, wreaking utter havoc on the wildlife and ecosystems there.)

All this trash is just incredibly wasteful. God's creation is not infinite, and filling it with trash does not honor its Creator.

I have stopped using disposable plates/food containers/silverware whenever possible. I have stopped using disposable feminine products. I recycle anything I can. What can you do to lessen what you throw away?

Prayer for Syria

Today I went to a service dedicated to prayer for Syria. Specifically we prayed for the civil war to come to an end, and for the welfare and safety of the people affected by the war. It was truly incredible to pray in a group, to together acknowledge the awful pain in this world but also take time to express our faith in God's power to overcome that pain.