catapult magazine

catapult magazine
 

Vol 4, Num 8 :: 2005.04.22 — 2005.05.05

 
 

A question before pitching

When I have garbage, trash or just something I?d like to get rid of, my initial instinct is to just pitch it. Throwing it out is the quickest, most efficient method of disposal anyway, right?

While this may be true, God has called me to more. Proverbs 13:22a states, ?A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children.? I don?t want to leave an inheritance of rotting landfills to my children. I want to leave them with an earth that is more renewed than used up because of my lifestyle choices.

Instead, the way I try to deal with trash is by asking a series of questions:


  • Can the dog eat it? (Um?husband isn?t too fond of this one, though.)
  • Can we compost it?
  • Can we reuse it?
  • Can we recycle it?
  • Can we give it away?
  • Can we fix it?

If the answer to all of those questions is no, my very last choice is to put it in the trash.


It?s spring-cleaning time and the urge to throw everything out before asking those questions is sneaking up on me again. But then I think about the consequences of throwing things out and my heart tells me it?s not right. The convenience of throwing things away that I don?t want anymore over choosing to compost it, reuse it, recycle it, fix it, or give it away aren?t worth it.


I fight the conflicting desires of my heart, to choose convenience or to choose what is right. My conversations with others lead me to believe I?m not the only one. I don?t want to buy into our consumerist American lifestyle that says my happiness is in the material world and in having new things and in getting the old things out of my way as soon as possible. I know that my happiness (joy, rather) is in what God, in Christ Jesus, has done for me and this knowledge has certain implications for my life choices.


My life used to be much simpler before thinking about the consequences of my own consumption. I struggle because I wouldn?t wish this kind of conviction on my worst enemy. Yet at the same time, I desperately want my life, and the lives of others, to be ones of depth, concern and compassion for the consequences of our lifestyles. And so my desire is this: will you join me in asking these questions before throwing things out to lessen the integrity gap in each of our lives?




Discussion: A question before pitching


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