Winning Words 5/6/11
“On spaceship earth there are no passengers; everybody is a member of the crew. We have moved to an age in which everybody’s activities affect everybody else.” (Marshall McLuhan) Earth Day began in the mind of Gaylord Nelson. His concern for protecting the environment has grown to be world-wide. Earth Day just celebrated it’s 40th birthday, Apr 22. It’s not too late to honor the day in some way. ;-) Jack

FROM JC IN HONG KONG: Boring, not winning. Sounds like another quote by one of your Eureka People who just got slapped in the face by reality and found out what everyone else knew all along! By the way, Mr. Global Village would have been 100 in July, maybe that'll give you enough time to find a deeper quote, hehe. Have a nice weekend! FROM JACK: Boring? Probably so. After all, Earth Day is 40 years old. People over 40 can sometimes be boring when they tell the same story over and over. My mother complained about that when she was in the "assisted living facility." But, what if it's a story that needs to be told and retold?

FROM JS IN MICHIGAN: A great WW. I wonder, however, if there has ever been a time when this is not true. What John of Gaunt did in Lancaster in England certainly had a ripple effect on his serfs.....and they had a ripple effect on the economy....and they affect the archers who eventually won at Agincourt, etc.... FROM JACK: You've caused me to think....This world, like our body, is not made to last forever. This does mean that we should misuse either, for both are the creation of God.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: It's a challenge in this day and age to feel better on the crew and not worse--a person can read about the global warming in one place and then read the scepticism about global warming in another place. Read about the sweatshop conditions that we are working to overcome in one place and then read in another place that actually this crappy stuff will ultimately lead a nation out of poverty and more satisfyingly into the global economy. We are bombarded by information and much of it conflicting. Maybe this is why some people just sit in their chairs and be passengers instead of crew members. I'm not there yet but it's tempting and the thing that pulls me back into trying to do something is realizing as a Christian there are sins of omission as well as commission. Trying is really the only option. FROM JACK: Triumph begins with TRY...and then takes some OOMPH.

FROM MOLINER CF: Earth Day is not a once-a-year thing. That gives us 364 more days to be good shepherds.
FROM JACK: Our Optimist Club is responsible for picking up trash twice a year along a 3-mile stretch of one of our roads. Tomorrow's one of those days, but I won't be able to help.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: I don't believe we should worship the earth as some people do but I do try my hardest to set an example of good use of this God-given wonderful earth. In fact, I have a tablecloth which is made from 36 plastic bottles. I showed it to my grandsons yesterday. There was a tag attached which showed how they made the cloth. Lesson number 424 of being part of the crew. FROM JACK: Gaia (Greek for Mother Earth) Worship goes way back in time, before the invention of plastic.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: The world has become very small, with instant media transport...so every country's activities affects every one else's! And of course it is then too true that in our own country, everyone's activities would also affect neighbor, city, state, and so on. Hopefully most recycle, and try not to litter, at least, although when I visit a park, I am amazed at what "pigs" some people are!! And as for things flying out of car windows...don't get me started!! As Dietrich Bonhoeffor, the German pastor and theologian wrote: The ultimate test of a moral society is what kind of world it leaves to its children." Amen FROM JACK: Here in Michigan we have a bottle/can return law. 10 cents each. It works. The no smoking law works, too. We have curbside trash recycling, too...and two hazardous waste days each year.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: My husband and I flew to DC in the late 70's and it happened to be the day after Earth Day on the mall. We had never seen so much trash left over from the people trying to clean up the earth. First things first. FROM JACK: Yes, it's not a perfect world. I celebrate the fact that there are those, like Senator Nelson, who do try to make it better.