fall, leaf blowers, and john 3:16

yea, another rant.

i hate leaf blowers. they are loud. they smell. they make a lot of dust. they create global warming.

the beautiful new england fall has begun and i'm looking anew at the big beautiful trees in our yard. my back already aches as i envision all the raking. but the ache of that work makes me feel connected to the ages of human work and to the earth in a very wendell berry sort of way.

listen. i'm here blogging. i'm not arguing for the 'i'm not going to buy a computer' rejection of culture and technology that some accuse mr. berry of, but then i did grow up in the wilds of western montana. i know a little about working the land. and the sentiment is this: what might we do that offers our labor to the rhythms of life in ways that limit our contribution of damage to the flourishing of life? that seems to me the aim of larry rasmussen's discussion of sustainablity in earth community, earth ethics.

and it seems to me the implication of john 3:16. i recently read an argument that we ought not worry about the earth, as the text says, "for god so loved the world . . ." as if god loved the world then, but couldn't be bothered now--souls are all that matter. that person has never read the vision in john's apocalypse that holds out hope for a new heaven and a new earth, and in the midst of it the tree of life. will there be leaf blowers in that new creation? i think not.

anon, and +peace

Comments

[rives stewart]

Dear New England Lover of Peace and Quiet,

I live in the heart and soul of environmental ignorance and disregard, Dallas, Texas. Although we've had a magnificent showing of fall color due to an unusually rainy end of summer, the leaf blower teams in my affluent neighborhood have made life miseralble with their racket and pollution. There are many days in this fancy berg that children are not allowed to play outside because of the benzene and gasoline fumes generated by blowers.
I've spent three years researching the issue and believe that something must be done.
Thank you for writing such a lovely letter.
Your reference to the biblical is petinent in so many ways. Bill Moyers recently wrote a great essay on the Christian capitulation....."bring on the death of the natural world, we can't wait for judgement day!" idiocy in the Dallas Morning News if you would like, I'll send it your way.
Best regards, Rives