What I did for Earth Day
or Every Day is Earth Day

by George Boise

Sounds like the title to a grade school composition, doesn't it?

When I was a child, I thought as a child. Only I didn't think of myself as a child. In my mind, I was grown up at 15 years old. I didn't like my parents or teachers telling me what I could and could not do. So, I ran away from home and hitchhiked down to Daytona Beach, Florida. I thought I was grown up, but looking back, I was just a rebellious, punk kid. Now I'm a man, I think as a man.

Why the side bar from Earth Day? Well, that was in 1968 and on the road I became an instant hippie. I stayed at communes, slept out under the starts, read Mother Earth News, bathed in rivers and lakes and I even smoked Mother Nature.

I guess I sort of worshipped Nature which is kinda' silly when you think about it. Why would you worship the thing created--more than the One who created the thing? But I found out while reading my Bible that this kind of thinking is nothing new. In fact, in Romans Chapter 1, verses 20 to 25 - oh, go ahead and finish the chapter, you can read about it.

Anyhow, Earth Day! So, this is what I did. I rode my bike, instead of using my car and I turned off the heat. This saved fuel. I planted some lovely flowers. I recycled the garbage. When I walked my dog, I not only picked up his poop, but all the trash on our route. At home, I turned off all the lights no one was using and the TV no one was watching. But you know what? As much as possible, I do these things every day. So to me Every Day is Earth Day. It's just good stewardship of what God has given us.

I'm afraid we haven't done a very good job of taking care of business. I meanlook at us. We are the crown of creation and look at us. Fighting and killing each other. We have little respect for each other. So it's no wonder we have no respect for God's other creations like animals, vegetation, our water sources, the air we breathe, all gifts the Lord has given us freely to enjoy.

One day each of us will give an account for what we have or have not done in this life. As long as you still have your Bibles out, read Revelations 20, 11-15 and Chapter 21, Verse 1, which says there is “a new heaven and a new earth.” Why? What happens to this one? Does man destroy it? Does God pull the plug? Stay tuned.