I’m currently reading Serve God Save The Planet by Dr. Matthew Sleeth. It’s an interesting and challenging book. He used to be an ER doctor, and he is now a Christian environmental leader. He raises a lot of great points about stewardship of the Earth, and the damage that our energy and resource plentiful lifestyles are doing around the world, especially for the poorest of the poor.

Everyone knows what debt is. In America, debt is a major problem. With so many people who spent way more than they have, who are now in dire straites, losing homes and jobs, it’s a major issue. I also know that the only way to end debt is to start living below your income, and pay off your debt.

Think for a moment about the whole earth. The earth is filled with resources, but when we use them all up, and we have polluted all the water and poisoned the ground there will be the end to our “resource fund”. Just like monetary debt, there is only so much energy in the world. We have become power-hungry maniacs. Do we need even half the energy resources that we use to live? Not by a long shot. We are addicted to energy. We burn through it without thought. America is tied up in political and actual wars over OIL. We need it. We need it like a crack addict needs another hit.

I want to live a simple life. A life that will not destroy the rainforests and cause flooding and destruction of villages and homes around the world. I want to break my materialistic addiction. Nothing in this world can come with me when I die. What can come is the lives that are impacted, for good or for evil, by my life. If I have lived a life of excess in the face of poverty and want, God forgive me. I must change.

Marie Antoinette was murdered by her country for living in excess, much like America’s excess in the face of starvation and polluted water and disasters. Don’t wait for the governement to act on your behalf. You have your own account to pay.

every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.

Psalm 50:10-11