By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
Our family celebrated Labor Day with a road trip to Muscatine to walk a segment of the Running River Bike & Pedestrian Trail System, which we have added to our growing list of favorite trails. I asked my family to take reusable water bottles on our walk, mindful of a talk I listened to a day earlier by a Ghanaian bishop on the harmful effects of plastic waste in his country.
We savored the scenery on our walk — the sun-sparkled river, woods, open areas and bridges — and the weather, which was pleasant and not humid, as our son Patrick said. Occasionally, a brown rabbit darted across the trail. We heard birds chirping and the buzzing of cicadas in the distance. The people whose paths we crossed smiled, said hello, or waved.
Our pleasurable experience set us on the path to celebrate the Season of Creation, a month-long commemoration of prayer and action that began Sept. 1 and unites Christians worldwide to care for their common home. Enjoying the beauty of God’s creation in my corner of the world raises my awareness (and my family’s) about the need to ensure that everyone on our planet has that opportunity.
It’s about making the connection between our choices at home, work, and school and in the community at large and their effect on our brothers and sisters near and far away. “Salvation embraces creation as an ‘earthly paradise,’ mother earth, which is meant to be a place of joy and a promise of happiness for all,” Pope Francis said in his message for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Sept. 1).
After the walk, my husband, sons and I got into our car, ready to drink from our water bottles, which we had not taken with us on the walk. The water in my bottle, exposed to the sun, had warmed to approximately bath water temperature. Patrick handed me a single-use plastic water bottle that he had brought with him (he said he would use a refillable bottle next time).
I just couldn’t accept the bottled water because of my commitment to use only refillable bottles. So, I took small, frequent sips of the warm water in my bottle, eager to get home to enjoy cold water from the jug in the refrigerator. Sometimes commitment, even a small example of it, isn’t so black and white. During a Vespers service that I attended Sept. 1 at St. Anthony Parish in Davenport, participants reflected on this question: “What do your actions (the fruits of your decisions) say about who you are and what you value?”
I value care for God’s Creation but don’t need to risk dehydration, for example, to prove a point. However, dehydration did not seem likely and water was available if I needed it. What happens with decisions of greater impact? Each decision requires thoughtful consideration rather than hasty action. However, individual efforts matter, as Sister Marilyn Huegerich, a Clinton Franciscan reminded me.
The cold water I drank after we returned home from our Muscatine adventure tasted even more refreshing.
(Contact Editor Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
