Five Reasons for Living Right with the Earth—Adult Edition

1. Our relationship with God as the Creator. Everyone from the Psalmist to the writer of Genesis to Jesus himself look to God as the Creator of the world. We honor God by caring for what God has made.
2. Our relationship with ourselves. Jesus warned that we can't worship both God and material things. This tells us that getting caught up in endless consumption of the Earth's bounty is not good for our souls. There will also be a spiritual price to pay when we have spoiled the last wild places on the planet-the rainforests, the Arctic, the undersea coral, the sight of the Milky Way at night. Where will we go for contemplation and a sense that this place is bigger than us? And as we trash the Earth's waters and air and forests, will it continue to be a healthy place for us to live?
3. Our relationship with our neighbors. The World Health Organization reports that Global Warming will be responsible for 160,000 deaths worldwide this year. In the U.S., air pollution will kill 70,000. Wars fought over resources are the result of our addiction to material things. In addition, those of us in the wealthy north of the planet use five times our share of the Earth's bounty, while millions-make that billions -of people don't have enough for a decent life. In these ways and more, the way we deal with the Earth and its bounty affects our neighbors.
4. Our relationship with the creation itself. Do we see the rest of creation as having value in its own right as part of God's good creation? Then we must respect it for its own worth.
5. Our relationship with the future. What kind of world are we passing on to those coming after us? A world worth living in? A creation that is vibrant and capable of supporting human and non-human life? Our children and the planet itself deserve a future like this-let's give it to them!