Lifestyle With The Lord In This 21st Century

This reflection I am writing is a product of discernment for years as the effect of digital technology is taking us to great heights, yes, but plunging many people to destruction and as the climatic change is causing horrible disasters happening from moment to moment.

Underlying Philosophy

The guidelines I will write has few assumptions which dictate them. First is a belief that there is a God who is the Creator of all. Psalm 24:1 says ‘…the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” As Creator, He is the Owner and therefore rules on how to use properly His creation. This God is happy when we show our love for Him by loving and taking care of His creation especially other people as we love ourselves. Everything in the universe and beyond the universe were created by Him. While His creation is baffling, we may just confine our attention of this topic to the earth where we live. Once we agree that we do not own anything, this perspective is life-changing. However, no matter how difficult, if it is for the Lord and He is with us, we can handle it with Him.

We start with our persons. Do we own ourselves? Why is it that we cannot go the way we want even with all the meticulous preparation? Along the way, in a spur of a moment, intervention can happen. Who causes the change? We know the answer. God! We are His creatures. He made human beings different from the other creatures because we have bodies and souls and made in the image and likeness of God. Just the same, we owe our existence to God just like other creatures. What is asked of you by this God is to know His teachings and abide by them. Come sunshine or rain, we accept what happens and make the most out of it. All that we are, our person, our personality, our good features, our strengths, our weaknesses all belong to Him, lent to us while on earth. Our families are given by the Lord as our basic refuge, hence we thank the Lord for them, live with them harmoniously and journey with them in a desirable relationship. How do we look at our careers, our work, our accomplishments, our successes? What about our properties – the house, the appliances, the equipment, the vehicles, the land and its products? As I enumerate the possessions we have, the more we say, they are given to us to be used only for needs, not to own them nor possess them to ourselves. In the current language, we simply are stewards of these, not owners.

CBCP’s Pastoral Statement on Stewardship says “Every gift is a responsibility. We recognize every gift, nurture it, generously share it with others, and gratefully return it with increase to the Lord. This is the meaning of the Spirituality of Stewardship.”

The resources and talents given to us are for fulfilling our personhood and sharing them with others. The second set of commandments say that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If understood in this sense, my love for my neighbor should be as much as the love I have for myself. If I think of meeting my needs only, there is a great possibility to love my neighbor as I love myself because I would need only a small quantity to satisfy my needs and his/hers… But if I hoard possessions to myself, there is a danger I cannot share with my neighbor anymore. The early Christians practiced this sharing of resources by selling their properties and distributing the excess to the poor. This is an idea worth pondering upon seriously. Many saints, congregations and religious associations live by what the early Christians modeled.

This earth has enough resources for all human beings to live when people meet their needs and not their wants. The guidelines could be coming from this statement: simple lifestyle, avoid wastage and stay close to “natural”. While some suggestions will be enumerated, you could add as many others you are already doing or still intend to do.

We could do more if we act collectively. However, we must believe that we must start even when alone first or with few others. With God, every single action, every single person counts.

JUST USE WHAT YOU NEED.

Cooking is the most important task in the house for our family, hence practicing some tips to save in cooking particularly rice is helpful.

1. Prepare the amount of food you could consume. If not consumed in one meal, serve it during the next meal to retain the good taste and flavor.
2. Perchance, the estimate is more than what is needed, give to a neighbor who appreciates the dish. There could be a neighbor of such kind. Give it while newly cooked, not as left-over.
3. If eating rice, every grain placed on the plate should be consumed per meal. Imagine that every grain of rice had been handled by tireless labor. Many millions of people are hungry in this world with no rice to eat.
4. Water for washing rice should not be excessive. In fact, we are reminded not to wash many times, as this will wash away much of its nutrients.
5. The water from rice washing is rich in nutrient. Use it for watering plants especially the potted ones.
6. Rice cooked should be consumed, not thrown away. This could be served during the next meal, heated or fried.
7. Fried rice could be cooked with any leftover to give it varied flavor, such as excess scrambled egg, or luncheon meat or tocino, etc.

Water is so vital that not being able to take it as needed could lead to death. It is so scarce in many parts of the world. Sometime ago, some said that water could even be the cause of war between nations in owning its source. The water cycle is worldwide. Whatever is done in a country could affect other places. Hence, we are all obliged to conserve water even if we, ourselves, presently have an abundance of it. The scarcity of water is hastened by the effect of the disastrous climatic change.

1. Even when we have abundance of water, we must save. The whole world has an interrelated water system.
2. When we use water, use only what is needed.
3. When drinking, fill your glass with the volume you will drink. Remember the water you get from the dispenser has cost.
4. Water used for washing clothes could have several uses. It can be used to clean the toilet or floor or water the plants.
5. If possible, store rain water in a tank. It minimizes and delays flooding and the bad consequences, It has many uses such as watering plants and for cleaning. Imagine the water we save if all houses have water tanks.

Share Unused Clothes and Other Possessions

1. It is said that when you do not use your clothes for approximately two years, that is not yours anymore. It belongs to someone else who needs it
2. It is wise to give to others your unused things when they are still usable rather than when destroyed while stored.
3. Ideally, once a year, it is good to segregate things in the house on what to keep, what to share, and what to throw away. It diminishes things you have to arrange, dust and clutter.
4. We support the campaign vs. one-use plastic. The earth is suffocating. Plastic is killing fishes and other sea animals and plants.
5. We segregate trash, knowing the importance of the purpose. Separate those which could be re-used, those which are biodegradable and those non-degradable.
6. Used paper, which cannot anymore be recycled should not be thrown to the biodegradable pile. This could be maximized for removing the oil on frying pans before washing with detergents. Think of a lifetime savings.
7. We bring our bag when we go to the grocery or to a store. Imagine the savings the world gains from this practice.
8. Groceries give paper bags for items bought. For big ones, these can be used as trash bags. For small ones which cannot be recycled, they are useful, when moist, to remove oil from used cooking utensils before washing with washing detergent. Is saves a lot of detergent. Also, since corners are difficult to sweep, torn moist paper bag could also clean well corners, edges and nooks
9. Rubber bands are useful but could break fast. Before throwing away the face masks, remove the bands, clean them and use them They are much better than rubber bands, They are elastic and do not break.
10. Before throwing used paper towel, it could be further used such as in cleaning the surface of the stove after cooking, wiping moistened panels or counters, floors with water drops and other surfaces.
11. It is good to clean or wipe the floor of the porch or veranda after the rain to maximize the initial wetting from the rain.
12. The dust now is thick even when a room is air-conditioned. If it does not offend your taste, it is clever to close cabinets or cover them with glass panes. It spares you from using so many hours just to wipe the displayed decors when exposed to dust.

Many tips for saving electrical energy are already practiced and may be added in another article.

Dear Lord, we offer You the daily chores of our simple lifestyle for Your honor and glory knowing that our daily lives matter to You.