Micah 6:8 and where it leads me

Recent readings have synergized in me, a divine convergence of ideas. I don't know exactly where this goes. When I find out I'll probably share it here.

Sarah Vowell's recent and charming book about puritans--The Wordy Shipmates--reminded me of the sweet words of Micah-

And what does the lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Then I read a journal article about the lack of, and need to, incorporate ethics in the study and pursuit of sustainability. Yes! Duh!

Isn't that what underlies the saying,

Live simply so that others may simply live.

This last has resonated with me for a long time. I've agreed with it but haven't really seen how to implement it. That is, how does it help the poor and hungry on other continents when I recycle, ride the bus, and refrain from shallow materialism?

The positive incorporation of ethics in sustainability will help.

I'm no scholar. I'm a citizen and a seeker. So--how do I use my skills and resources (aka gifts from God) to live simply so that others may simply live, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God?

That's what is incubating in me this week.

Peace, y'all

Molly

So you think you know about sustainability?

Rude awakening for thine truly. I just found a survey from the International Society of Sustainability Professionals --the ISSP Sustainability Knowledge Competency Study. Thinking I was fairly knowledgable, I clicked to take the survey. Hoo boy.

Here are a bunch of events. I have some familiarity with some of them...
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
Bruntland Commission/Our Common Future
Commission on Sustainable Development
Convention on Biological Diversity
Intergovernmental Forum on Forests
Kyoto Protocol
Limits to Growth/Club of Rome
Millennium Development Goals 2000
Montreal Protocol
Silent Spring/Rachel Carson

How are you doing so far?
Keep going....
UN Environment Programme
UN Forum on Forests
Vienna Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer

Now, some organizations
AccountAbility
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)
Carbon Disclosure Project
Earth Policy Institute
Environmental Protection Agency
GEO-4
Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI)
Hadley Centre for Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
International Society of Sustainability Professionals
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
World Business Council on Sustainable Development
World Resources Institute

Not through yet with humbling myself
Now for sustainability frameworks
Herman Daly's Triangle
Triple Bottom Line

Now for some principles
Adaptive management
Agenda 21
Caux Roundtable for Business
Ceres
Cradle to cradle
Earth Charter
Equator Principles
Hannover Pronciples
Melbourne Principles
Precautionary Principle
Talloires Declaration
UN Global Compact

Had enough? But wait! There's more!!
Practices and Protocols
AA1000
Closed loop recycling
Dematerialization
Design for environment
Ecological footprint
Environmental/Sustainability Management System/ISO14001
General Reporting Protocol
Global Reporting Initiative
Green Chemistry
Greenhouse gas protocol
Industrial ecology
Life Cycle Assessment
Life Cycle costing
New urbanism
Permaculture
Product stewardship/EPR (extended producer/product responsibility)
SA8000
Smart growth
Socially responsible investing

My humbling is not over but I am tired of tapping. So I'll continue layer with more stuff I think I should already know about.

Peace, y'all

Molly (the humbled)

Learning from the World Community

Small epiphany today. If we visit a poor country and see the poverty, we would first feel shock, then get ideas on how to help.

So, it is as well when people from poor countries, or European countries (where the standard of living is high but by using far fewer resources) visit us.

They're amazed (to put it politely) at the amount we waste. The packaging. The food. The driving everywhere. They are impressed (and not in a good way) at the shocking majority of us who are overweight. They see our big cars, our drive-throughs, our big houses and huge grocery stores too big and far apart to get to any other way but driving. They see our huge closets, just bursting with stuff. They see our self-storage cottage industry.

We can share education, infrastructure, sanitation, and public health resources with the others in the world, and they can show us how to live joyfully on far, far less.

Today I viewed my world through the eyes of someone from another country, and didn't like what I saw.

The retail abstinence continues. Day 11. I find I enjoy browsing in catalogs and don't mind stores too much. It's getting easier! I realized today we are saving a LOT of $$ by not going out to eat at all.

We hosted a nice dinner last night for two women friends and their daughters. I opened a bottle of wine (didn't finish it), but also received one, so I think I broke even on that expense. I bought very little for this meal. I had the pork and the bacon (local!), I had the potatoes from the CSA, I had the pears from the CSA. Need to buy the cresent rolls, nuts, brussels sprouts, cheese. That wasnt' too much.

I entertained the daughters with my cats and then with learning to fold cranes. They both embraced it quicky and happily. It gave me happiness as well to share my interest.

In the interest of promoting peace, I shared with the two women issues of the newsletter from Right Sharing for World Resources. Perhaps RSWR will get their moral support (likely) and financial support (I hope).

Hoping to make the world a better place.....

Peace, y'all

Molly

Peace is non-linear and today it's circular

The path to peace is not linear, and today I'm seeing this quite clearly. My decision to reuse my eternal calendar from the good people at Alternatives for Simple Living (http://www.simpleliving.org/) lead me back to Doris Janzen Longacre's Living more with Less.

Alternatives for Simple Living is a non-profit organization that equips people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly and create meaningful celebrations (cut and pasted straight from their web site). It's Christian in a gentle and practical way.

Doris Janzen Longacre was a Mennonite, and this book is part of the Mennonite Central Committee's work to meet human needs world wide. It's nourishing. Like hors d'ourves rather than a 3-course dinner. Her categories are

Do Justice

Learn from the World Community

Nurture People

Cherish the Natural Order

Nonconform freely

Yummy! It comforts me to organize my own activities along these lines. Is my food donation today a "nurture people" and "do justice" ??? Is my party tonight to make it fun to take down the Christmas tree sort of "nonconform freely?" Am I doing a bit to cherish the natural order when I recycle?

As I drink coffee grown and processed by Gustavo in Turriabla Costa Rica I feel pretty good. I honor the memory of Doris Janzen Longacre.

Back to circular. I got this book years and years ago and it has rested quietly on my bookshelf for quite a while. It's practically new to me once more.

I did some work with AltSimLiv years ago too. And I am led there once more. (More on this in Sept or October 2010.)

Peace, y'all

Molly