Global Warming

How does the threat of global warming apply to our lives as Christians?
We are called to be the salt of the earth, and that means we are also responsible to look after the planet that we have been given.

I recently watched the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” and it awakened me to the fact that if our generation does not do something about global warming, and do it now, we will not have a world to show our children.
I seriously suggest you watch the movie: a brilliant documentary, free of bias and very informative.
The truth of the matter is that we are in a dire situation; this is true and global warming is happening. But we can make difference. Please do not think that you cannot make a difference, because you can. All it requires is for you to be aware of the issue, to change a few little things in your life, and to tell your friends to do the same.
The movie shows how we can actually reverse the process of global warming if we all pool together and become energy-saving conscious.

Even more reason to get conscious about this is that SA is in an energy crisis which is not going to be resolved for another 5 years. Therefore, unless we make the change, the frequency and extent of power cuts is going to continue rising. It is poor form that Eskom cannot supply our energy needs, but unfortunately the earliest this issue can be rectified is post 2010. So instead of complaining, let’s try and cut our energy consumption down to limit the number of power cuts we will have to face in the future.

Here is a list of things you can do to make a difference:
• Watch the movie and tell others to do the same
• Replace the lights in your house with compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s) which use 60% less energy than normal bulbs
• General electricity saving tips – turn off lights in rooms you are not in, only boil the amount of water you need for tea/coffee, turn your geyser down slightly, use electricity sparingly.
• Plant trees everywhere. Trees absorb CO2, and a tree is a cheap and aesthetically pleasing way to curb global warming. A tree costs only a few rand and can radically reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. See www.arborday.org for more ideas
• Use a clothes-line instead of a tumble dryer
• Recycle!!! (Paper, plastics, glass)
• Eat less meat, thereby reducing the demand to hold livestock, which have very high CO2 emission levels
• These and more tips are available at http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando/index.html

If we all just do a little more and encourage others to do the same, we can make a difference. If you don’t believe your small contribution makes a difference, watch the movie – your mind will be changed!

Be blessed, make music, live with passion
NS

The Sunset

One summer’s evening, ten friends sat watching the sun set over the calm blue ocean. For six of the friends the sunset was the most beautiful thing they had seen – they just enjoyed the fading of the yellows into reds, oranges and finally into the purples, pinks and blues of dusk. They marvelled at the incomparable magnitude of the vast expanse of water, and the seagulls that hung above it, unshaken by the ocean’s devouring stature. They sat for hours just enjoying it.
The other four people were not that impressed by the sunset. They didn’t find anything particularly beautiful or enticing about it.

Has the sunset failed the other four people?
I think in this simplified scenario it is easy to see that we cannot say that the sunset is in any way ‘guilty’ of not delivering on its responsibility to provide that good feeling one expects when watching the sunset. The sunset is what it is; it is absolute and does not show itself differently to individual persons. Rather the reason some people see its beauty and others don’t, is because of the way those people perceive the sunset. In other words what eyes do they see it through? It is the state of mind and spirit of each person that allows them to have either a positive or negative experience of the sunset.

If the sunset does not hold any power over the people to find enjoyment in it, then surely the same should apply to everything in life.

We all complain – about our jobs, about our friends, our financial situation, but have we ever stopped to think that the magnitude of our problems could be due to our perception of those problems and not necessarily the problems themselves? If it is due to our perception, then surely we have the power to choose how we see those problems.
We can either see them as challenges that God will use to the good of those who love Him, or we can see them as afflictions that bring pain to our lives.

So how do I look at the proverbial sunset and see its beauty? How can I change my perception so that I can enjoy what I see? The answer begins and ends in Jesus taking first place in your life. When Jesus is number one, we see the world through His eyes and realise that the power lies in His presence in us and not in the things of the world.

The challenge is to look at our own lives and see if there are things that we don’t appreciate and enjoy, things that frustrate us and things in which we cannot see the good. We need to stop blaming the other person and the situation, look into ourselves and see how God wants us to change our perspective of what is happening.

You can’t see the good in a situation, until you see the God in it.

Be blessed, make music, live with passion
NS