I ♥ Earth Day

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Especially today, April 22 – Earth Day.

All across the country – all across the world – people are joining together to care for the Earth. There are educational events, green-living fairs, speeches, rallies, and hands-on ways to take action to protect God’s good gift of creation. It’s a veritable love-fest for the Earth, and it’s great.

I have a secret though. A deep, dark secret, kind of like “True Confessions”. I used to hate Earth Day.

As someone who worked in the environmental field 24/7 for over 15 years, I became frustrated that just one day a year, people would recycle a pop can or buy an organic vegetable and think they had done their part for the Earth. Then Earth Day would pass, and everyone would go back to their old habits. But as I’ve grown older, I find myself having more compassion for nascent environmentalists, and appreciating the attention that Earth Day focuses on changing our behavior – especially as it gains more momentum and exposure.

It’s said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and Earth Day opens the door. We start by just making one good decision today – to take the bus to work, to buy organic, or to not buy at all. And then we make another good decision tomorrow. And the next day. And soon what began as an Earth Day activity becomes a lifestyle choice, supported by the ongoing awareness that Earth Day brings to the environment.

More and more churches are hosting creation care services during Earth Month, and the media keeps the environment in the news for almost the whole month of April. Earth Day is a time to celebrate the bounty and the beauty God has given us and commit to be good stewards of it. I hope that you find a new way to celebrate, reconnect to, and honor God’s creation this year. And remember that EVERY DAY is Earth Day!