Royal Ranger Nature Merit lesson.
I taught the following lesson (only down to the addendum) to some boys I was helping earn their nature merit. The Addendum is what I really wanted to teach.
The Conservation Pledge reads:
I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of America. I promise to educate future generations so they may become caretakers of our water, air, land and wildlife.
Here are some Bible Verses about Nature: (Of course you can always find your own.)
Genesis 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
The Gospel According to John (Chicoine): I want you to notice that after each of the days of creation of the Land and the vegetation, the Sea and with it’s aquatic life and the air with the birds, and the Land and all animal life,,,, the Bible pronounced “And God saw that it was good.” As Christians,,, I wonder if we understand in our daily lives and actions, the impact we have on that which God Created, and was so especially proud of that He himself declared that “it was good”. Although we are just one individual,,, we do have an impact! Our existence on this earth does change the earth we live in. Are we consuming more than we have to? Are we taking more than we need? Do we take for granted all the comforts we are used to, and assume that they really don’t cost our earth more than they are worth? We can change. We must change. We can begin to make small changes every day that give back a little. As we try more we can conserve a little more, and hopefully eventually we will learn to give back more than we consume. It has to start somewhere. It has to start with you and me. We have to become AWARE! Aware of God. Aware of His creation, Aware of our impact. If there is one thing I hope comes through all of the time I expose you to God’s creation,,,,, (First: I assume that you are God AWARE!) You believe in Him, and you believe that through His provision Christ Jesus, you are a child of God,) Second, I pray that you begin to see your place in God’s Creation. That you begin to see that you and Him are connected in the physical world through God’s creation. We live in it, We depend upon it, We’re part of it, and it is part of us. Genesis 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. We must begin to try to live our lives on this earth in such a way that once again,,,,,,, God will look upon His Creation and see that it is good.
*** May God Bless ***
John Chicoine
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Addendum:
We have become a society of excessive consumers. Our soul desires all that our eyes can see and our minds can imagine. There is no end to the frivolous extravagances which we have come to believe are necessities. In our quest to “have it all” & “Have it all our way” We are like locust consuming all of this good earth leaving in our wake destruction and baroness. The raging greed of the profit takers flourishes while it recklessly consumes or pollutes the earth’s resources in its effort to quench the never-ending thirst of the masses. Generation after generation the mantra going forward is simply,,, MORE!
Always,,, MORE, with no regard to the cost levied upon this unique, divinely crafted satellite we owe our existence to. Our last century of un-shakeable material quest begs the question,,, Is there no end to it all? But of course there is. Unfortunately I am convinced and deeply troubled that it will not be an end driven by our recognition of, and repentance from our glutinous consumptive sins. It will not be an end driven by some miraculous revelation that it is our selves, each and every one of us as individuals that is the cause of our own fate. I am certain (thought I wish I weren’t) that it will not be an end of balance and contentment between the Earth’s capacity to sustain us, and it’s inhabitants. It will not be an end in which we rise up to the noble charge given to us in the garden. I can honestly say that I know no-one (myself included) that has come to that place in their lives that they can say,,, I have enough. More than enough!
And!!!! I don’t wish to point a finger at any one group (They are what we have taught them to be.), but I do believe I know the next few generations yet to take the helm of our world, and I can categorically say; their expectations that they deserve everything their mind can conceive of owning, AND NOW! “And it better be the exact, size, shape, color, and smell they want!”, is pervasive! God Help Us, if we expect them to voluntarily turn down the spigot of self gratification and excess.
There is some small hope in me that prays that the next great yet to be discovered modern miracle of the human mind is just about to be revealed to come and save us from drinking the last drop of drinkable water, breathing that last breath of clean air, or trampling upon the last patch on a living vegetation. But this is a deadly hope. For it is just that type of thinking that gives us all the excuse to wait until tomorrow for that savior. I fear (and anyone that can see past their own nose must likewise conclude) we are long since past the tipping point at which we should have turned, and our earth can no longer continue to sustain the desires of us all. We here in 21’st century western civilization have for the most part been able to live far above our means while being insulated from its effect. But this two is changing, and many of us living in the lower two thirds of the economic strata are becoming more and more aware of supply and demand eco economics.
I must take a moment to explore this hope for a modern miracle of science savior we are all wishing for. In truth! It too is not driven by the right motives at all! No! Its root drive is motivated by our desire to continue to maintain this reckless reach for more, more, more! We want someone to invent the next magical miracle goo to replace the gasoline we fill up our cars with, so we can keep driving bigger, badder, faster, MONSTER Automobiles, with independently controlled climate control, individual stereo systems, and DVD players for every passenger, (Including the driver!), and heated seats, and remote start, and comfort ride, and super glide, and dynamically controlled road tuned suspension so God forbid you might spill your mocha-latte if you hit a little bump (because you were distracted by something someone said on the other end of phone call) while you’re flying down the road at 75miles an hour. (1/2 of the people reading this are waiting for me to tell you the car that has all these things so you can go out and get one)….. No Problem! Pick any one! This has become the base model of them all!
How’s this for a revelation!!!! This long awaited Modern Miracle of Science Savior has already been revealed!!! STOP THE EXCESSIVE WASTE! JUST SAY NO! We’ve had the answer all along! It’s not the earth’s limited capacity to sustain, it’s not God’s short sightedness and poor resource planning, it’s not nature’s inability to replenish and renew itself. IT’S US. It’s our life to excess, it’s the “as long as I have mine” mentality; It’s greed, lust, selfishness, covetousness, impatience, voracity & discontent.
We must begin to teach our children, and teach by example, how to care. Care for each other, Care for this planet. How to genuinely find a balance between needs and wants and have real contentment with having lived an ecologically zero sum life. The types of things I am talking about are very simple measures of conservation and stewardship.
Remember that Conservation Pledge:
I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of America. I promise to educate future generations so they may become caretakers of our water, air, land and wildlife.
I wonder if we as individuals really took that to heart and considered ourselves “The Caretakers”, (like you would care for your new car, or your lawn.). Caretakers of our water, air, land and wildlife. I wonder if we could really understand what type of impact that might make on the way we live our lives today. As I write this now I can think of a million things I personally could do, should do, (and as God as my witness will try to do) to be a better caretaker.
Another note on that pledge: It is fashionable today,,,,, and, I can just imaging some first grade class room with that pledge written above the black board, and a real sincere teacher trying to convey to her class what that pledge should mean to them,,,, (And I truly do commend her for her efforts, the message has to start to be taught somewhere….) But just consider the sand she shovels against the tide. The children in her classroom (you know,,, the ones she’s taught to put their uneaten portions of their pre-packaged lunchable, and their bread crusts into the class compost pail.) are all dressed in this seasons “peer approved uniforms”, picked up and dropped off door to door from home to school to home in SUV’s 1/2 the size of a school bus. (School busses are out of fashion now.) Brought in climate controlled comfort to home’s 1/2 the size of the school, that never drift more than 2 degrees from 70, with humidity never more than 10% from 40% relative humidity. Cloned McMansions with finely manicured chemically treated lawns in neighborhoods stretched out as far as the eye can see. Homes with personal bathrooms, televisions, computers, cell phones and various other absolutely necessary electronic gadgets, for every occupant of the house; all running 24 – 7. Lights on in every room as long as the last occupant is awake. Clothes washed, machine dried and pressed every day, and thrown out and replaced at the first hint of fashion folly, even if they’ve only been worn once. (Or maybe never, if they happened to go out of fashion before they made it home from the store.). Hot showers flowing 20 to 30 minutes every morning for each occupant. Refrigerators, freezers, and cupboards filled to overflowing with each occupant’s personal preferences. Microwave ovens running constantly as each individual feasts at their own convenience, on their own special tasty treats. No,,,, This sincerely dedicated first grade teacher has as much chance at successfully instilling the message of conservation upon this next generation, as our “War on drugs” has lowered drug addiction rates, and our “Planned Parenthood” has reduced the abortion rate.
Far be it from me to just bitch about a problem without suggesting just a few small things we can all do to act just a little bit more responsibly towards the earth. But I won’t! I was going to generate a huge list of list of things we should and or should not do. What is required here is not about a list of do’s and don’t, rather a societal shift from the mistakenly interpreted fundamental Judeo Christian premise that we have a mandate to subdue the earth, (As a master would a slave). Our focus needs to be a total re-defining of our relationship with our environment. It is not enough to have an occasional, convenient or accidental event that might be a little less harmful to the earth. It has to happen at the core of each and every one of us, and it’s not the same actions for anyone of us. Maybe one of us builds an entire eco friendly house, while another one of us blocks off a few windows with insulated panels on a cold winter night. One plants an organic garden and waters it from rain barrels, while another walks a mile to and from school. Someone rides a bicycle to work while another makes a commitment to purchase goods from a local farmer. It needs to become an attitude of America. Like the social programs during World War II untied every able-bodied American to the cause of supporting the war efforts, at home and abroad. It must be everyone, all the time. It must be intentional; It must be individual; and it must be universal. If America does it, the world will follow.
Not that any of this is new, ask anybody (if you can find any) that lived in rural America 60 to 80 years ago and they will look at you like you had two heads for discussing this like it was anything other than “Just the way it was when they were growing up”.) I’m not implying we as a society need to return to living life as it was “down on the farm” 100 years ago. We have lots of modern science and innovations that can help us maintain comfortable, enjoyable and reasonable lives. But there will be need for some sacrifices from all of us.
As a closing note! If anyone of you reading this, prints it out. I will personally come to your house, and beat you senseless with the dried branches from the tree you killed.