We teach our children to share in kindergarten. Yet as adults, this foundational tenet is lost in the so-called “real world” of competitive capital enterprise. The present and projected effects of this economic paradigm are not promising: vast and growing inequality, species extinction, ecological devastation… Nor do the solutions seem to be coming readily to hand.
Here in my home country of Canada, one of the wealthiest and most privileged nations on the planet, daily public discourse from coffee shops to national TV is regularly conditioned by scarcity, economic fears, and worries over uncertainty. Somehow we are unable to recognize the beauty and gift all around us.
I live in Alberta, one of the nation’s wealthiest provinces, which regularly garners international headlines due to our vast oil sands development. Each year, Alberta extracts 15 quintillion joules (EJ = add 18 zeros!) of non-renewable carbon energy from oil, natural gas and coal; we use 6 EJ and export the rest.
Like many global citizens, Albertans struggle with the tensions between our economy and the environment. And yet, each year, our province receives 3000 EJ from the sun, with 26 EJ readily and easily harnessed with existing technology. And, in contrast to the carbon we extract, energy from the sun returns every day and does not pollute the air.
More challenging than channeling our yearly solar offering is changing our perceptions.
Recently I was confronted with a “death by committee” situation where a church ended up refusing a donation from one of its members for a new solar PV system. There was confusion about the matter in general, but one question struck me: “When is payback?” This is a common question, but it seemed out of place in a Christian context, particularly when the funds had already been freely offered.
It seems odd to resist a gift. Yet we hang on to “normal” because we don’t have confidence in our ability to navigate change, however beneficial that may be for ourselves, our society or our grandchildren. Even so, the gift returns each day.
I was reminded of the Christian teaching on the lilies of the valley, taken from the Sermon on the Mount:
- And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the flowers of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin (Matthew 6:28).
It is difficult for us to make a change, however great the benefits might be, or however abundant the world that awaits. Yet, as the passage continues, “even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (6:29).
- If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30).
The vast majority of Canadians will never worry about food, clothing and shelter, yet we continue to debate the “costs” of protecting our children’s future. What if we were to change this picture? Perhaps such a change does not require a radical transformation, but simply a recognition of what is already around us.
Each year, our province receives 1000 times more energy than we need. If we imagine ourselves as citizens of this reality, we see we’re already blessed beyond imagination, with the means to do whatever we wish. In such a world of plenty, we would naturally want to share.
The Cathedral Project 