Creation Care Mom

I want to start with stating that I’m struggling to write about faith and creation care right now because of the craziness occurring in the USA political scene. Between the lies and violence and the way faith is being coopted for political gain, I’m struggling. It hurts my heart to see Christians standing with and behind people spewing hatred, prejudice, and deception no matter their policy platform. With that being said, I want to point you to two resources. If you haven’t yet subscribed to Ben Cremer’s weekly newsletter, I highly encourage you to do so. He has put to words many of the thoughts and emotions I have been feeling over the past several months. You can find them here. I also have been reading through “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism”. Link here. If you only have time to read one book between now and the general election in November, read this one. It is builds the case for how we ended up with Trump in the presidency. It’s informative, but also convicting in the sense that you may recognize yourself and some of your beliefs in the evangelicals pictured. Helps you check yourself as to why your are voting the way your voting.

Now, let’s move on to a story for today.

“Leave only footprints, take only pictures.”

Leave No Trace consists of 7 essential principles: plan ahead and prepare, travel & camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of others. I didn’t know it when I was little, but I was learning these principles to the point of them being second nature. Growing up in Yellowstone, you see the grand education campaign for these principles because you also see the consequences of not following them. Don’t respect wildlife? Get gored by a bison. Leave the established trail or boardwalk? Possibly fall into a thermal feature. Don’t put out your campfire? Forest fire. Fail to plan ahead? Find no overnight accommodations. Carve your name into the bacterial mat. Ruin the mat for the next person. Living inside a national park teaches you to live a breathe the principles.

I was young during the years we lived in Yellowstone. We moved out of the park when I was 8. And yet, living within the park boundaries, meant my parents were constantly echoing versions and variations of these principles as rules we live by. Incorporating these ideas into the very rhythm of life. Bison at the end of our street. Give it space and go around. Don’t pick the flowers, leave them so others can enjoy them. Throw your trash away, nobody else wants to see that and trash can damage these fragile ecosystems. Fire is a tool to respect. It keeps you warm and can cook your meals, but is also very dangerous and wild. Staying on the trail keeps you safe and prevents other trails from being created. We share this place with the millions of visitors that come every year. Sharing means everyone gets to see the same things. Don’t vandalize. This is common ground. It doesn’t belong to you.

Leave no trace is all about respect. Respect for common ownership. Sharing for the benefit of all. What a hard understanding for an growing young kid. But early education made all the difference because I continue to take these principles onto all kinds of public lands. And yet, if you’ve spent any amount of time on public lands, you’ve almost certainly seen someone who does not understand these ideas. You’ve come across a campsite with trash all over or see the graffiti carved on rocks. Hopefully, you haven’t been so unlucky as to find bodily waste and toilet paper like I have. This misuse of the commons is absolutely heartbreaking to those of us who consider ourselves stewards of creation.

Why? Is it the culture? Lack of respect is widespread. The ME ME ME culture and all. Is it a lack of awareness and education? Are these lessons taught to city folks? Does it run deeper, to the loss of our original mandate to steward creation for God? I think its all this and more.

Those original lessons in Leave No Trace built the foundation for all the other stewardship behaviors I have added over the years. They were the beginning of learning how to share this planet and all of its resources with the many other humans and animals who call it home. I’ve built upon them, expanded them, and considered them from many angles and circumstances. But the foundation remains.

Where are your roots? What lessons created your foundation? Let me know in the comments.