so kyle is going to say i am even more of a hippie now...

today as i logged on to the Internet i was intrigued by the story of colin beaven. if you are interested in his story you should check out his link. trust me, it is fascinating.
http://www.noimpactdoc.com/about.php
i do not necessarily think of myself as a hippie, but for some reason the things i am drawn to are normally under that heading...i fight the battle with kyle all the time. he calls me a hippie; i deny it. but then i find things like the "no impact man" and i cannot help but to think how amazing this whole project has been (not to mention lucrative for his family, but let's hope that he truly is wanting to change the world and not merely find a new way to make a buck).
harper has been learning a lot about sin at school. in fact, "sin" is one word that she can read and write without any help. i think that is kind of sad, but my sister-in-law pointed out a truth to me that helps me see the good in focusing on sin. she reminded me that we live in a world that fails to acknowledge sin, so the fact that the school is pointing out sin helps our children realize that there are absolutes in a world that teaches the opposite. but all this focus on sin has made me think more carefully about our lives and how sinful we truly are.
we take everything that God has given us and find someway to manipulate it and turn it into something that is harmful for us. we tend to focus on the big things like drugs, alcohol, and sex, but the reality is that we have polluted so much of God's goodness that we cannot rely on Him because we are so fully reliant on the things we have created. God gives us fruits and vegetables and we find a way to make cake. and then we find a way to take cake and preserve it so that we can take cake anywhere with us. God gives us water and we make soda. God gives us cotton and we make plastic. everything pure has been tainted by our own sinful touches; so it is no wonder that the very things that we create are the things that kill us.
it is funny that ideas of returning to the pure, organic way of life is often times labeled as "liberal" because i believe that being in the world and not of the world is the essential Christian calling. we are called to rely on God and not on the things of this world. i still drink sodas; even though i have MAJORLY cut back. and i wonder if i could ever turn away fully from my reliance of man-made substitutes for God's originals, but the fact that this man was able to turn away from most of the world's modern conveniences makes me realize that i can do more than i think i can.
he makes a list of very do-able ways to live more of a "low impact" life that are also very responsible as Christians--they take us *out* of this world that we are so intrinsically connected to.

i am sure that kyle will have quite a laugh at this and call me a hippie when he reads it, but i believe that i am so rooted in the modern conviences of the world that i would most likely reject the Garden that God called Eden. these steps are a great way to begin to not be as connected with the world as most of us (or maybe just me) are.