The Green Thing

The Following comes from Pastor Tim of Cybersalt.com. He did not credit the author, and therefore I am unable to credit as well. Enjoy this thought provoking observation. Indeed, nothing is new under the sun.

In the line at the store today, the cashier told an older woman ahead of me that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she's right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts.... "wind and solar power" really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But that old lady is right. They didn't have the green thing back in her day.

An Introduction

This note comes from a post, or a facebook note that I wrote back November 5, 2011. With that, I repost this note for your reading. --smh

As I am finishing up my message for the morrow, I came across a news article about a misapplication of the passage, and yet the author in refuting the passage misapplies that same passage in the opposite manner. We tend to do that with Scripture. We will go far left and then far right. We are like a pendulum. We will go with legal regimen to wonton freedom and land at all points in between.
 
An example of us doing this comes from the beginning of time, in Genesis 3.3, Eve added to the Word of God. This is the passage of the temptation and fall of man from the Garden of Eden.  Here she is telling the serpent that God said they must not eat of the tree, nor must they touch it. Back in 2.17, God only said “Do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” So she added to the Word. She touched, then she ate and shared with Adam who was the original recipient of the single law, who taught Eve, who was also standing there as she was in error. Adam said nothing.
 
Now I realize that I am speculating with that which follows, but it seems reasonable and does not violate Scripture. Now I wonder when Eve saw she didn’t die as she touched the fruit, if that caused her to doubt? Thus from this doubt she doubted God’s command. Perhaps she didn’t catch the nuance of death that comes because they were then barred from eating the Tree of Life. Then for Adam, I wonder if he realized what he had allowed to happen, decided to share the fate of his wife, which in a wry sort makes a great romance story.
 
But again, that is my speculation based on the Word, for Genesis 3.24 God placed the angel with the flaming sword to guard the tree of life from man.
 
So that is one of the factors for my idea comes from, “Central Points”. The other is that currently I am serving Central Christian Church. It is central to Southeast Arkansas, but not quite to Stuttgart. Yet 99% don’t keep such a distinction in their heads. They see the church as the most northern place before hitting the fields, and then Mack’s Prairie Outfitters. The main question is, “Why do you all call yourselves Central when you are on the north end of town?” My answer quickly became, “because we are central on the Word of God, the Bible.”
 
Now you know the rest of the story of Central Points.
 
My aim is to answer questions about the Word, about Culture, about any topic using the Bible. My aim is to do so as objectively as I can, leaving behind my denominational bent, which is an article of itself. My approach to the Bible is that 1- it’s absolute standard and stands alone. 2 – The Bible has two parts, the Old Agreement (Testament) and New Agreement. Jesus lived under the old. Pentecost and coming of the Holy Spirit began the new. The New Testament is not a Law Code, where what was written first is less than what was written last. If a later writing of John contradicts his earlier writing, it’s not a contradiction in the Bible, but contradiction in understanding or application, which is why I am taking this endeavor.
 
I welcome feedback and discussion. I also want your questions. Not questions looking for an argument, such as arise between Christian Church and Baptist Church, though some of the discussions will go that way. But I want the questions you genuinely have need of answer. I am currently working on one question I received recently, and it basically comes down to Good being corrupted by bad company. So with that, I say to you, bring on your question.
 
* Just a thought: Not all “Central Notes” will arise from questions from readers. Some will come in the form of ideas that pop into my mind whenever they do so. There is also no real time table for the next note. It will happen.
 
The Father’s Blessings to you all. –smh