On my way to work out this morning I started thinking about how there just seems to be no truly environmentally friendly way to deal with a deceased person.
Why was I thinking about that?!?!
Someone on the radio was talking about the importance of justice and that we need to be about justice, personally, not just support others who do it.
And how does that relate to the effects of death on the environment?
The two subjects have truly nothing to do with each other, at least in my mind. But the idea that we should do something, not just mean to do something was what triggered the following rabbit trail:
I was thinking about how environmentally conscious individuals try to be environmentally friendly in our approach to burial, but are often not any more successful at it than those who don’t try. As a matter of fact, sometimes we do more damage, accidentally.
And maybe I’m just not in the know enough; it isn’t a subject I spend a lot of time researching.
However, the last I heard, crematoriums are releasing all sorts of horrible chemicals into the air, not to mention carbon dioxide, because of all of the chemicals we have inside of us, many based on the marvels of modern medicine. Chemically cremating people also creates environmental hazards. And water cremation isn’t without its drawbacks – first and foremost, the use of water. I’m not saying that people should stick with caskets and huge holes in the ground. Those, of course, also have their drawbacks. It’s just that getting rid of remains seems to be very costly to the natural environment,
It got me to thinking about what the Bible says about the earth and its inhabitants:
God created the world to not experience death – to live eternally.
It’s human sinfulness that introduced death into the world, and we have been paying the price ever since.
No wonder it is so hard to deal with death. No wonder dead, decomposing organic matter creates so many environmental hazards.
My husband and I try our best to make environmentally friendly decisions; I think that’s the right thing to do. But I’m so thankful that this world is not my final home – and it doesn’t have to be yours, either!
Jesus came to earth, lived the perfect life we were all supposed to live, then died as a sacrifice for our sins, and came back to life so that he can forgive our sins and resurrect us, too, to life in heaven.
So let’s do our best to steward the earth He has given us while we are here, but also, make sure to love God and love your neighbor so that all of us can experience life as it was meant to be – with no death.