Reflection: Loving Our Neighbors in a Holistic Way
“Why the Pope Is Going Green.” is an interesting article in Christianity Today. Those of us that live and minister in third world countries can see how not caring for the environment destructively affects the people and country. Our beautiful country of El Salvador is the second most deforested country in the Americas after Haiti. People chop down everything they can everyday to use for cooking fuel. We’re the most densely populated country in the Americas and that’s after more than 2 million have immigrated north. All of the sewage, all over the country, runs into the rivers and then into the ocean (that is, that doesn’t soak into the soil and ground water). Every day, the buses belch out huge volumes of diesel smoke, factories dump their waster into holes in the ground or the rivers, etc. People toss all of the trash out the window…recycling the plastic and metal as that helps put food on the table. As a result, renal failure is predominant, and cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities, and respiratory problems are prevalent.
May we never become accustomed to this, nor oblivious as to how it affects the poor. May we look for creative ideas on how to be agents of spiritual change and at the same time provide ways that the people we reach can realize.
I Thessalonians. 4:11,12 (NIV):
We urge you, brothers and sisters, to … make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.