Earth Day on Good Friday

How coincidental that Earth Day falls on Good Friday this year. I started thinking of a way to celebrate Earth Day. Yet Good Friday is not really a day of celebration, it is quite a solemn day. In thinking of what Good Friday is about I realized how much the two actually have in common.

Good Friday is about sacrifice and suffering. In today's society people view "going green" as a sacrifice. It's all about what one has to give up. "Going green" can mean giving up the convenience of plastic grocery bags, plastic sandwich bags, juice boxes, and individually wrapped snacks. "Going green" can mean giving up time.  It takes more time to wash cloth napkins and reusable water bottles.  "Going green" can mean giving up ease. The ease of commercial cleaners. "Going green" can mean giving up comfort. The comfort of 75 degrees on the a/c instead of 78.

In suburban America any sacrifice is considered suffering. People don't think about God's sacrifice on a daily basis. People don't think of Jesus's suffering on a daily basis. People don't think of what Mary gave us. People don't even think of the suffering happening today, around the world. There are children, right here in our country, who are still being beaten. There are families, right here in America, without homes. There are whole villages around the world that are starving. It really makes the 2 minutes it takes to wash and fill your water bottle seem small.

Society is concerned with the here and now. Jesus's suffering is the past. The destruction of the Earth is in the future. Society isconcerned with what they see. Everyone else drives a big SUV. You can't see the ozone. Everyone else uses plastic bags. You can't see the animals it kills.

God gave his only son. God also gave us this one and only Earth. Now that Lent is ending you will be going back to whatever you gave up.  Your New Year's resolution may be long since forgotten. How about this Earth Day you don't celebrate. Let's remember others' sacrifices, sacrifices for us. Let's make our own sacrifices, not just for Earth Day, for every day.