Article April 13, 1998 Issue

PURIFYING OUR ENVIRONMENT

John Hay Scott

Looking out of my window as I am writing this, I see a beautiful day here in Scotland. The hills cradle homes and farms—but in the still, clear air a column of black smoke has appeared. Perhaps someone is thoughtlessly burning a tire. And thoughtlessness, an unwillingness to clean up our act, may be the essence of the pollution problem facing a much larger community—our world.

Breaking through the resistance to changing our ways was certainly an important feature of the conference on global warming held in Kyoto last December. But what is needed is more than a merely material process; it requires a willingness to clean up our mental environment also.

Although he lived long before fossil fuels became a problem, Christ Jesus understood the importance of mental and physical purity. To help meet this demand, Jesus constantly turned his followers to our one Father, God, who has created all and created it good. The Master taught that we should live by the Golden Rule, that is, do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This rule is a touchstone to the health of our relationships with one another and with the environment. We should be asking, Is it need or greed that is motivating my actions and desires?

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