If you grew up in the country as I did, you didn’t just wheel the trash can to the curb each week. We lived on seventy acres. The garbageman didn’t come to our home. Instead, we had a burn can.
Of course things were different. We didn’t have aluminum cans. We drank Coke from glass bottles. If we wanted water, we got it from the tap or the garden hose. Tupperware was the only plastic and we washed it and used it over and over again.
Over the years I admit that using all the plastic tugged at my conscience…not enough to stop me from using it or quickly tossing it in the can for the garbageman to take out of my sight, but I found that it still nagged at me.
Last year, I decided to finally listen to that inner voice–and Pope Francis’ call to “Care for our Common Home” in his encyclical, “Laudato Si.”
I started small. I bought blue cans with those neat little recycle graphics on them. I collected aluminum and glass. After I went to the county recycling site to take my trash, I saw that they also accepted paper, cardboard and plastic.
Then I got a few more containers and started recycling these items as well. Then I noticed that Publix recycles plastic bags and styrofoam trays and egg cartons. So, I started saving those.
On average, my husband and I have one to two bags of garbage each week. We used to have a can that overflowed. I also noticed that we purchased a lot of plastic items. That began to bother me.
You are probably wondering what this has to do with recovery and I will tell you that I have decided that it has a lot to do with it. In my program, I begin to focus on me–in every way.
Listening to my conscience is listening to my Higher Power. Noticing the effect that I have on our common home is what working steps eight and nine looks like.
Each day as I use an item, I rinse it out and sit it on the counter. Every so often I go to the garage and sort the waste. I see what we have used. It helps me to become more judicious about what we purchase and use.
I lay hands on every piece of waste and think about it. I recognize my impact. It keeps me connected to the earth.
This practice is a lot like my practice of praying the Examen. This centuries old prayer started by St. Ignatius of Loyola asks me begin by recognizing that I am in the presence of God. Once there, I begin to think of all that He has given me. I give thanks.
Then I look back on my day. I sort the events of the day into times when I felt close to God and times when I felt distant. When I felt close to God, I hope to keep those experiences. When I felt distant, I look at what kept me from God. What do I need to detach from? What stands in the way to my relationship with God?
I’m looking at how my actions affect relationship. Just like I look at how my consumption affects the earth. Life doesn’t happen to me. I play a part. Did I bless others or injure them? Did I maintain connection or rupture relationship?
This is where I ask for forgiveness for the places where I have fallen short. Finally, I look towards the next day.
God keeps showing up. He finds me everywhere. If I keep in mind that I am active in His world then I remember to keep him at center.
If you have active addiction in your family…with your friends. What is your effect on the situation? Do your actions keep you close in relationship or distant?
Steps eight and nine and the examen prayer are mighty good tools. Recycling isn’t so bad either. I hope you will take these tools and use them to bring peace into your heart.
Praying for each one who visits.