Truly Just

February 13, 2007

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

“You will keep their issue alive over all the earth.” Genesis 7:3

“Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember? Mark 8:17-18

Piety

God, your servant Noah found favor with you as a man you saw as “truly just.” He accepted your instructions to be a steward of your creations on Earth. In return, you saved Noah and his family from your anger.

Send your spirit to show us the path of the just in the modern world. Help us act like modern stewards of the land, protecting the animals, the air and the water from being defiled by the wickedness of the people. Help us protect and respect life throughout the world. Amen.

Study

To those whom signs were given, much was asked in return. The story of Noah gives us perhaps the beginning of the “environmental” movement. Since birth, it was recognized that in Noah rested the future of humanity and the living creatures of earth.

“Out of the very ground that the LORD has put under a curse, this one shall bring us relief from our work and the toil of our hands.” Noah inherited the mission of stewardship that was passed down from Adam. “God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.”

Action

“You shall not desecrate the land where you live…Do not defile the land in which you live and in the midst of which I dwell; for I am the LORD who dwells in the midst of the Israelites.” Numbers 35:33-34

How can we better use the resources God has provided to us?

One first step might be to make sure we know how much we are using to begin with. A good place to start is an Energy Audit. The book, Serve God, Save the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D., has a sample format. See image to the left.

Run through your bills from last year and estimate your energy consumption. Every time you switch on a light or turn on the hot water in the shower, you are using energy and money is flowing from your pocket into Virginia Power. Once you do the audit, think of some ways to cut back:

1) Change to fluorescent light bulbs

2) Take a vacation closer to home

3) Car pool to work or use Metro

4) Use a clothesline to dry clothes during the summer months