"Don't desecrate the land in which you live. I live here too - I, God (35:34)
Some time ago we were conversing with Nichalas and Amber about hiking and camping and they shared with us news regarding Mt. Everest. Decades of mountaineering have taken a toll on the peak, which is strewn with rubbish from past expeditions, including oxygen cylinders, human waste and even climbers' bodies, which do not decompose in the extreme cold. Because of this, there is a vast amount of garbage littering the mountain earning it the nickname "World's Highest Garbage Dump".
Climbers scaling Mount Everest will have to bring back 17.6 pounds of garbage, plus what they carry in, under new rules designed to clean up the world's highest peak, a Nepalese official said Monday.
When visualizing the beauty of these mountains, garbage never crossed my mind. I started thinking about how people are here, closer to home. When mowing, it still amazes me how anyone can roll down their window and throw out all the garbage from their fast food meal. When did this become an act of "normal" or "accepted" behavior. What is even sadder, often times I am very hesitant to pick up others trash for fear of what is in it or contaminated with.
Isn't it amazing how there is "nothing new under the sun", and we still don't learn. How we simply think so much of what is convenient for ourselves, we neglect to see past the end of our nose. So many times we throw out our "trash" believing it won't matter or affect anyone else.
But it does.
Every single action we take, or don't take, causes a ripple across the expansion of time.
What our ancestors did hundreds of years ago, is still a part of our lives and will be a part of the lives of future generations. You can't escape from it - it is a part of your makeup. Either in your genes or traditions handed down.
There is a story I have heard about a new bride fixing a ham for the first time. Before putting it into the pan, she cut off the ends. Her husband inquired why she was wasting so much meat and she replied it was how her mother always prepared the hams. Upon asking her mother why, she realized it was because of following the example of her mother. When asked why she did this, the grandmother replied, "because the pan was too short".
In this Scripture, I apply it not only to the land I walk in, but my spiritual journey. Our future generations have enough of their own battles to fight without having to haul around my trash. This is why I take my lead of life from His Word. It is The Truth for all situations. It is what I want to hand down to my future generations.
I am so thankful my Savior went up the mountain and gathered all my "trash", disposing of it. I am so thankful His clean up is all I will ever need and I have been power washed clean.
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