This morning I joined my regular Sunday group organized by my City Council to pick up litter. I pick up litter daily, but Sundays connect with others and spend more time. Most days I pick up maybe a dozen pieces. Today I filled three or four bags.
Today is Easter too. Raised by two biological parents and one step-parent, each raised with different traditions, I painted a few Easter eggs growing up. Today’s world means there’s more plastic and litter to pick up than eggs. Sad.
Anyway, walking through my neighborhood, trash bag in hand, often dropping to my knees and kneeling, I passed a big church on Sixth Avenue, just letting out its congregation around 12:30pm. They were in their Sunday best. I think I dressed well, but not in a spring suit.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you today celebrate his resurrection? If so, I’m curious your thoughts. Which way honors the creator of our world—to kneel pick up litter dropped by others, blemishes on an Earth given to steward, at least as I understand it, or to kneel in church?
I don’t mean to imply one can’t do both. I’m just curious about others’ views. When I pick up litter, I feel I’m acting in service of others, acting on the Golden Rule of do unto others, acting on values and emotions of honor, duty, family, humility, stewardship, cleanliness, faith, and glory. I don’t go out picking up litter for my health or to pass laws. I do it out of honor, integrity, and service to others. These seem similar to people’s experience in church.
If you went to church today, I’m curious how picking up other people’s litter compares with going to church. I’d love your thoughts.
Dear Joshua Spodek,
I hope all is well with you.
Going to church and picking up litter from the street are very different activities but they are connected.
If you take a minute to look it up you will see that “mass” and the word “mission” have the same roots.
So in the “mass” you have a reminder of what your mission is and also a mental preparation for your operations in life outside the walls of the church.
The mass itself is not the activity, the mass is just a reminder of what your task is.
The mass is then similar to your articles that you write here. Your articles are something like your gospel.
When you write for the public you are making a summary about your future and your past activities.
So I think there is a confusion between the description of the operation (the mass or your writing articles) and the operations on the ground (the activity for the believers and you picking up trash).
Kind regards
Manuel
Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed following up by reading the Wikipedia page for mass, which had a section on the word’s origins. A while ago I learned the root of gospel is good spiel, or good word.
As the weather warms up, there is sadly more litter to pick up. People haven’t yet developed a mission to avoid buying disposable everything. I don’t see how they don’t connect that billions of people each getting food or doof in plastic every meal and snack is lowering Earth’s ability to sustain life. Or getting tons of packaging mailed to them by Amazon or whatever.
I have my mission to pollute less and intend for it to spread.