Pastor's Message

August 2009
                                                                                          

August Spirit Steps

 “Little drops of water, tiny grains of sand …” It’s the small things that add up.  It is the small things that often have the biggest impact on our lives.  Major issues we can deal with.  It is the day to day, petty annoyances that often are our down fall.  There are so many things that seem so small, so insignificant that we should just be able to deal with them without any effort and yet … 

It was a very long time ago.  Our children were just starting school.  More information was becoming available on the importance of proper nutrition so we decided to eliminate white bread from our diet.  A simple, little thing, no big deal, we would just switch to a whole grain bread and that would be that.  Well, as I recall, that ‘switching’ took about a year and we had to go through many small steps of moving from white to whole wheat (a brown white bread) to real whole wheat to whole grain in order to get the children to eat and enjoy a more nutritious bread.  Oh, and did I mention the numerous discussions along the way.   It seemed like a little, simple thing.  

As a church family, there are changes that we need to make as the times change and as new information and new understanding become available.  Styrofoam dishware, a little thing, convenient, cheap, works very well to insulate as well as provide sturdy plates and cups for large gatherings.  The only problem is that it doesn’t break down; it is a major pollutant to our environment.  A little thing, just use something else, yet nothing has the convenience of Styrofoam; paper doesn’t hold up, reusable dishes have to be washed.  In the larger scheme of things does using Styrofoam cause that much of a problem to our environment?  We are a small church, we really don’t use that much Styrofoam.

As a church we teach that the Creator put us in charge of caring for all creation.  If we knowingly do something that is detrimental to the creation (especially when there are other alternatives) what are we teaching?  “This is what we are called to do, unless it is inconvenient for us?” Suddenly this “little thing” takes on a spiritual dimension.   

Even if we stop using Styrofoam at our church today, the implications of that continue in the rest of my life.  My favorite fast food restaurant serves its food in Styrofoam.  Can I continue to patronize them?   Dare I try taking my own dish there and ask them to serve me on that?  If I make a big deal out of this, what else am I going to be asked to look at in my life?

Styrofoam dishware, a little thing, or is it?

Peace,

Pastor Bob