I recently went to a dealership in Staunton to get my wife’s car repaired.
When we stepped out of the service center, we caught sight of the car lot. There were maybe 8-10 new cars for sale. We drove down the road of dealerships, and it didn’t matter which car lot one looked at, there were few new cars for sale. News reports tell us computer chip shortages made in China and Taiwan have resulted in a 72% decline in the amount of new cars available. Many car plants are idled as a result. I talked with a church member the other day. They have cancelled a trip to Central America twice. Because the number of flights has declined, they were determined to book a flight, and did, at a much higher rate. Then, a few days later, airlines slashed fares because the amount of people taking flights has once again plunged. And the church member says that it’s likely the trip will be cancelled a third time, because of the spike in COVID cases in the country they want to go to. Another member talked about having to go to three Lowe’s — Lexington, Staunton and Waynesboro — to find all the pieces necessary to do a shower repair. In addition to wood shortages that have resulted in a two-fold increase in the price of building materials, apparently plastic is also in short supply, so manufacturers that use plastic are scrambling to be able to make the parts necessary for all kinds of items; including parts for a bathroom shower. I’ve even heard about a paper shortage, resulting in envelopes being in short supply. These examples could be referred to as a litany of “first world problems.” If you haven’t heard the term, it means that all the above cases have little to do with the problems a majority of the people of the world have to deal with, like having a roof over one’s head at all, or enough food for the day, or an element of safety in ones’ daily life. In a very real way this is true. However, I wonder whether there isn’t a larger issue for those of us who live in this prosperous and blessed land: the larger question of sustainability. God’s word is clear about both our part and our care of creation. “Till and keep the earth” is God’s command to humanity in Genesis (2:15). Some would point to an earlier word from God to “have dominion” over the earth, as if it is an excuse to do whatever we want to do. However, if God is “gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” which is how God is described in the Old Testament — to say nothing of the example of Jesus’ “who did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself” (Philippians 2:6-7) — then what does that say about “dominion,” except that we do not abuse creation, but live in a way that is in harmony with God’s intentions for creation? I think about the world we live in, in comparison with my parents and grandparents. The milk I drank as a kid came from a local dairy, and the milk was dropped off in a box at my parents’ house. We put the empty glass bottles in the box, and they were collected and re-used. The church meals I attended were served on real plates with real forks and spoons. The laughter and conversation in the kitchen as they were washed, dried and put away told me people were not so much inconvenienced by the time it took to clean up as they were blessed by the fellowship. Our family of six had one car; my dad was a pastor, and so trips to the grocery, back to school shopping or dates on Friday night had to be coordinated with the times he had to have the car. Somehow we made it happen. Now, please note I am not being critical of having a second car in the driveway, or an RV or boat, or using air transportation. But all the shortages we’re hearing about, and the recent story of how a single ship stuck in the Suez Canal almost sunk the whole global economy; and the fact that if you and I were to make a count of what items are in our houses, from furniture to TV to computers, etc., that the vast majority of them traveled either through the Suez Canal, or across the Pacific … And the boxes that are piled up at my house from Amazon, where it is just convenient to order dog food, or clothes, or some neat doo dad whenever I want … What is sustainable for this world that God has made? And for you and me? A colleague and friend of mine spoke about a time not too long past when we were much more connected to one another; where the apples or produce we ate came from a farmer we knew; when we could name the city or town or area of the country where our cookware or our furniture or even our clothes came from — even from our own town. And it’s interesting to hear more people taking up gardening as a result of the pandemic. Even raising chickens for eggs (Waynesboro discussions on animals notwithstanding). Perhaps God, in the midst of these times, is asking us to think about our lives; not as an exercise in nostalgia, but as a way to think about being a better neighbor with one another. We are a part of the whole creation that God’s word says is always a part of not only our physical lives, but our religious and spiritual lives as well. That means being able to sustain “the good life” that God intends not just for me, but for all of us.
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AuthorPastor Paul came to Grace to serve as our Pastor in October 2012. After a first career in product and graphic design, he was ordained in 1993, and has served as a parish pastor in Virginia and South Carolina. He is married to Jill and they have two daughters, one at Roanoke College and one at James Madison University. Archives
December 2021
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