Lifestyle

I have been thinking a lot about my lifestyle lately. This is partly due to the fact that I moved recently to a new city, so have been starting in many ways afresh. This is also partly due to the fact that I have been reading and thinking about the rest of the world pretty consistently. What right do I have to live in utter luxury, at least compared to so many? What better things could I be doing with my money than buying earrings? What better things could I be doing with my time than playing stupid internet games?

And what about the source of those luxuries? Were those earrings made by underpaid, overworked women and children somewhere? Am I playing games using energy created by burning coal, thus furthering climate change? What about my food--is it farmed and harvested by other underpaid workers, or slaves? Is it grown with chemicals that are destroying the earth?

How can I create an impact that is less harmful? How can I create a lifestyle that doesn't wreak destruction of both lives and the planet?

And how can I create a lifestyle that brings me closer to God? I don't want to just drift through my days and years--I want to be a potent source of God's redeeming love, to those around me and to those I will never meet. I want to live a life that glorifies God, through both my prayer life and the impact that I have on others.

That is my new goal.

Global Warming

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has released a new report that climate change is definitely human-caused and definitely will cause changes in the next hundred years:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/27/ipcc-climate-report-un-secretary-general

Pray for an end to climate change--and act to make it happen!

Environment and Prayer Quote

“When it comes to climate change . . . what is often missing is quiet reflection and passionate prayer. As the world descends into fearful uncertainty, we need space to ask God for his perspective and intervention, to think about what our abuse of his creation says about us, and to plead for a new vision of God’s purposes for us in his world.”   

                         ~Dave Bookless