We once had a black cat named Pepper. I nicknamed her “R.C.” which, to me, stood for “Retarded Cat”. She’s the only cat I’ve ever known who would have cheerfully chosen to live in her own litter box! She’d put her head and front paws in the litter box, then do her business on the carpet!

In preparing for this piece, I was totally frustrated with the scope of our abuse to our only earth. The rain forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. As the rain forests disappear, we are losing oxygen-producing trees, species of plants and animals that might help us find medical cures for various diseases.

In today’s paper, an oceanographer stated that there is so much human and medical waste awash in our oceans and on our beaches, that we could easily see a dramatic increase in serious diseases. I don’t want to go to the beach and swim in the water, do you?

Our land fills are on overload. These landfills contribute enormously to the pollution of our underground water supplies. 40 year old newspapers have been discovered in landfills that look as fresh and readable as today’s paper. Styrofoam products may never disintegrate. Their production causes holes in earth’s ozone layer!

Companies frequently discharge untreated, chemically polluted water back into our streams, lakes and bays. Sometimes they pay token fines, but seldom restore the ecosystem to its pristine state. Did you really believe Exxon was going to keep cleaning the oil-soaked Alaskan coastlines until they were really clean?

One grocery chain is bragging about biodegradable plastic take-home bags. The manufacturer of these bags admits that they only degrade when exposed to direct sunlight. How much sunlight is available under tons of dirt at the landfill? Another is offering to accept “used bags” from its customers with a promise to recycle them. There is only one recycling place in the entire United States.

The problem of pollution has been brought home to me in a dramatic way. During my travels, particularly in the last three or four years, I’ve seen the effects of man’s disregard for the fragile ecology on our planet. I’ve seen entire mountain ranges logged down to the bare earth. One area used to boast of redwood trees…some were seedlings when Jesus walked the earth. I’ve seen remote trout streams with signs stating that there are no more fish due to pollution. The north rim of the Grand Canyon is often invisible due to air pollution.

In southern Louisiana, I saw signs at every single public access point in the National Grasslands: Do not eat the fish, crabs, clams and crayfish caught here due to the effects of pollution. The earth is the Lord’s? With all the fullness? In a recent Sarasota paper, the following “Three ‘Rs'” were suggested…

1. REDUCE: Make less trash…don’t buy goods with excess packaging….buy in bulk when you can. Carry a trash bag in your car or keep your trash with you until you can find a garbage can…don’t be a scatterpillar! Refuse a bag when you’re buying something small and easy to carry…or ask for a paper bag. Take paper bags, tote bags or net bags to the store. Wipe up spills with a sponge or rag instead of a paper towel. Use both sides of a piece of paper.
2. REUSE: Use the backs of old letters and envelopes for lists or notes. Reuse plastic bags, glass jars or plastic containers for leftovers. Donate margarine tubs, juice cans and paper towel rolls for arts and crafts projects. Use the Sunday comic strips to wrap gifts. Share magazines and books. Reuse aluminum foil and pie pans. Repair rather than toss whatever possible. Give items to charities or needy friends and family members. Wash your coffee cup at the office and cut the use of foam cups dramatically.
3. RECYCLE: At home, recycle newspapers, glass and aluminum, etc. Twenty aluminum cans can be made using the same energy it takes to produce one can from virgin ore. This represents about a 95 percent savings of energy. Nationally in 1987, enough energy was saved by recycling aluminum cans to supply the electricity needs for a full year. Many communities have curbside pickup. We can call our trash hauler and have refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters, etc. picked up, as well. If yours does not, take items to a recycling center. Turn your workplace into a recycling center. Use desktop containers to separate high-grade paper for recycling. Many companies have separate containers for recycling computer paper. Of course, it takes a little effort. Pay the price, folks OR we pay the price!

I’d like to hear from you and your views on this subject. What do you do to recycle stuff? Just hit my name in the lower corner of the page and I’ll get back to you.

SOME SELECTED RESPONSES TO “VERY TRYING”

– As you know I have struggled with my weight for years. I am finally on the other side of it and have thus far lost 115 lbs. PTL! I found that my problem was that I was trying too much instead of giving it to God. There was something broken in me that made my efforts futile. This led to long seasons of giving up altogether. God changed that when I gave it to Him. More to the point, it wasn’t so much giving it to Him, ie, we can become obsessed in praying for something we would like victory in and that only reinforces our failure. But, by focusing on God period and recognizing my own inability to really deal with it, God gave me new strength.

A big part of it was the prayers of others like my wife and yourself. Yes, I became disciplined in making changes in my eating habits and exercise, but I wouldn’t have been able to without first giving it to God. I often think about Jesus’ comment to the man at the pool of Siloam. “Do you want to be healed?” Sounds like a crazy question for someone who had been obsessed with being healed for so many years, but I think not. What I really think Jesus was asking was, “Are you finally tired of living in your situation? Do you really want the help you need to be changed?”

Sometimes before we can be changed on the outside, we need to first be transformed on the inside.

– Loved your piece on trying. I think we all needed to read it. Let me just say that in the future I’ll “TRY” to do better……..teehee!!!!

– Your article also makes us think about how many times we’ve said, “I’ll try” and maybe even as we’re saying that we know we’re not going to give it our best efforts. I remember my favorite Gramma telling us that it takes more time and effort to talk about doing something than to just go ahead and do it. Perhaps she really understood the concept much better than most. When gram told us kids to do something, believe me, we knew she meant it and we complied. Often times, gram would help us and we had a fun time.

– Another good piece! There is a lot in the phrase “I will try.” It is a bit difficult to have the scenes of the movie, “The Passion of The Christ” in mind with the context you established. He did far more than merely try, didn’t He? I love the example that was so closely followed by His disciples. Each of them, except Judas of course, were doers. They literally changed the world! Though our culture is doing its best to change it back, I am comforted with the knowledge that “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”

– When are you going to put your weekly submissions into a devotional, book format? I think it would sell.

– Don’t just try————Just do it!!!!!!!!! I agree.

– I do try and most usually don’t get it right the first time, so, need to try again. My parents favorite saying was ” If at first you don’t succeed … ” Well, sometimes we just have to keep trying ’til we get it right

– I must write to tell you that I hope that you two, in your great faith, are not too deeply disappointed in the Promised Land not working out the way you expected; however, in my old age (72) I realize that God in Heaven knows our every need and wants only the best for us, therefore He, in His wisdom, may have something even better for you……or not.

I am praying that Pat’s health will improve or at least not be as bad as before and that you can find some solace in the fact that we, as well as many others, are praying for you daily.

– Loved the new piece on “TRY”. Thanks)

– I didn’t just try to read it, I read it!!!!

– I haven’t forgotten about you and I’ve been following your trail and trials to a new home site, aka Promised Land. My heart (and prayers) go out to you and your wife. I don’t know what the end will be, only that it will be better than any of us could have guessed. I can’t wait to see what it is. And I bet you can’t either.

After reading your word study about “try,” I’ve decided to quit trying –and instead to “commit,” like in commitment. When I was in a 12-step program, I realized that I had been using the word “promise” as if it were a garnish on a plate –pretty to look at, but nothing substantive. If somebody asked me to do something, I would promise to do it, even if I didn’t plan to follow through. I didn’t even use the word “try.” The “promise” actually was little more than an acknowledgment that something was important to the other person. I would make promises about things I knew I didn’t have the ways or means to do or would make promises to do something so I could use it as an excuse to get out of things I didn’t want to do –previous promises. Sometimes I made promises so I wouldn’t hurt somebody’s feelings or to try to ingratiate myself to somebody. One day God informed me that all those empty or ill-meant “promises” were either lies or were making my life meaningless. They were squandering me, my happiness, and the things to which God really had called me. I decided then and there to never again make a promise. Only a commitment. If I couldn’t do it, if it was against my better judgment, or if I already had committed myself to something else, I wouldn’t make the commitment. If, however, I could do it, I had the time, it was important to me, my wife or a friend, it didn’t obligate me to something I shouldn’t do, or didn’t interfere with something previously set up, I would carefully consider and then commit –or say “No.”

The Bible says to “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” The same thing with the word “try.” Either you want to do it or not. Either you want to be trustworthy or not. It’s either a commitment or not. It’s like the old story about the hen who came to the pig and said she wanted to do something nice for the farmer and suggested they fix him bacon and eggs. To which the pig replied, “That’s easy for you to say. That involves you but commits me.” There’s no harm saying something is tougher than you want and that you would just as soon not do it. Jesus did that in the Garden of Gethsemane. But he wasn’t just trying; He made a commitment.

– I’m still working on getting this house in order -is procrastination and trying in the same category??? I’ve got a feeling it might be, in some instances.

– I think you’re on to something, Jerry. It’s like Nike’s old commercial “Just Do It”. It hit home with me. I’m going to remember this one. Old habits die hard but this is one that must. Thanks.