Earth Day

Today we went to the Earth Day Festival at McClaren Park. We ran into a couple of sets of friends, including one of the bands that was playing. It's days like this that I recall what a small town we reside. Relatively speaking.

The first Earth Day was in 1970. I was less than a year old. The environmental movement was in it's infancy stages. Many of the futurists of the day predicted a coming era of unprecedented prosperity. One such thinker was Herman Kahn. He anticipated growing affluence, technological advance, and social progress. He essentially predicted the wealth of the U.S. would spread across the globe. There was little regard for the level of waste we live by. But, hey, it seemed like the party would never end. The world seemed to have unlimited resources. Fast forward to 2007 and we realize that dream is over.

I was thinking about the things we place our hope. At one level technology is hopeful. Back in the early 70's N.A.S.A predicted we'd have permanant human settlement in space by the turn of the century. Space settlement was hoped to be the way to access more resources to sustain prosperity on earth.

Another hope is the good intentions of people. For that to be a valid hope most of us have to be more concerned about responsible living than personal convenience. I guess you could say some kind of radical global correction would be rooted in the human spirit. This seems to be the most common hope of our day.

But our greatest hope is that human future is held in the hands of God. Growing up in a conservative Christian tradition, I was conflicted when it came to care for earth. The unspoken and sometimes spoken word was that the earth isn't our worry. Just focus on evangelism. Now, I see clearly that humanity was entrusted to care for the earth in the Garden of Genesis.

Ok, I'm being the environmentalist rambler today. The last word I'll say is that today was a good day to talk about Creation and the Creator with my children. Good table conversations about faith connected to responsible living and the improvement of it.

Here's to living well each day...

Oh, here is the site for McClaren Park Eco Fest

http://www.natureinthecity.org/projects.php