It's Not Easy Being Green

“The ax is already at the root of the trees and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher, they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to do,” he told them. “Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely--be content with your pay.” Luke 3:9-14

God Thoughts: 

We may not be into horticultural metaphors but we get the message. Fruit? Good. Fire? Not so much. Like John’s listeners, we find ourselves asking the same question. What is this “fruit” we’re supposed to produce? What, exactly, are we supposed to do?

John’s answer is simple. Love others. But for most of us, living out that simple message is anything but. In a culture of consumerism in which “the one with the most toys wins”, being content with what we have seems downright un-American. And while cheating on taxes, falsely accusing others or an occasional extortion may not be our modus operandi, we have probably all experienced what it means to get ahead at the expense of another at some time or another. And John’s advice to us all? Cut it out.

Question:

In what way can your life be challenged to love others more? Being more generous? Being more honest? Or being more content? 

Life As I Know It:

We are now a one car family. Yes, like countless other progressive families, we are reducing our carbon footprint, lowering our dependence on fossil fuels and answering that age old question, can a family of five exist with only four tires on a 10-year-old minivan without air conditioning? (The answer to which is, “yes”.)

But while our 11-wide footprint is a now a petite 6, we must confess that like Kermit, it’s not easy being green. Especially when you didn’t mean to be. 

The simple fact is, our other car died. And the other simple fact is that we don’t have the money to replace it. Yet. A fact my daughter brought to my attention the other day when she asked me why I didn’t have a real job. 

And that did it. I wasn’t seeing green. I was seeing red. A real job? Of course I knew what she meant. She meant a job that earns money. You know, the kind that helps pay the bills and sends kids to camp and let’s you feel less guilty about buying organic, pro-biotic, free-range shampoo. 

But it also made me feel so devalued. The jobs I do seem so invisible. The cooking? The gardening? The non-stop driving? The shopping? The laundering? The refereeing of daily teen-wars? Somehow not a real job? I was devastated. 

But what was the alternative? Would standing behind a cash-register suddenly make my job noble? Would doing the 9-to-5 change lives and give me meaning? So why am I doing this job-that-isn’t-a-real-job, anyway? 

Talking to God about it in my usual way, I questioned whether I should be doing more, earning more, not looking to all the world like a “failure”, when he stopped me in my tracks with an answer that suddenly made so much sense. And my anger? My need to justify myself? It went away. I was suddenly content. 

Why am I doing this job? Because many years ago, God made it clear to me that this is what I’m supposed to do. This is what he wants for me and if that pleases him, how could I be happy doing anything else?

My real job is focusing on my family, however imperfectly. It’s loving others. It’s laundry and omelette’s and visits with friends who need a joke over a cup of coffee because they're hurting. It’s being okay with a car that has 157,000 miles and a missing hubcap. So John’s advice to me when I think otherwise? Cut it out.