TLC/PoG Story Project
We are collecting stories of how members of the TLC/PoG community have recognized what God is doing to meet the deep needs of the world and discovered and assumed their unique roles in partnership with God.
Judy was raised in a Montana family with parents who had experienced the Depression. As a consequence, she has always been inclined to use and re-use the resources at hand and waste as little as possible. A somewhat private person, she spent her career looking for ways that she could be of service to humanity, utilizing her expertise as a microbiologist. Out of college, as a microbiologist, she applied to work at the FDA because she believed that she could help people by keeping their food and drugs safe.
Judy tends to experience God’s
presence most deeply in the presence of the natural world because that connects
her more directly to its creator. This
connection with creation sparks contrasting emotions for her: deep gratitude for the gift given to us to
enjoy and deep sadness about the damage and destruction that humanity has
caused to that gift.
Caring for
the earth is an expression of Judy’s faith and of her concern for
humanity. She notes that the growing
amount of land mass under water because of climate change will mean that people
who live there will lose their homes; pollution of water sources means that
people have a harder time getting water to sustain themselves and their
crops. She links loving one’s neighbor
inextricably with loving the earth. If
we say we love our neighbors but destroy the earth, loving our neighbor won’t
matter because the neighbors won’t even survive without the earth to sustain
them. As the earth’s resources are
consumed by humanity, it is the poorest of the world who will suffer first and
most. When asked what breaks her heart
the most about the decline of the environment, Judy acknowledged that she is
most distressed when people of faith claim to care for people but do not seem
to take seriously the charge to be caretakers of the earth that sustains our
existence.
Recycling is
one tangible way that Judy has chosen to act to make a difference where she
can. Since the early 1970’s when
recycling first became a possibility in the Illinois suburb where she lived,
she has been a dedicated recycler because she wants to interrupt the cycle of
throwing away things that we must then use up limited resources to manufacture
again.
In 2004,
when Judy came to Trinity Lutheran Church, she noticed that, in spite of the
vast amount of paper and other recyclable materials that Trinity consumed,
there was no organized effort to recycle.
Seeing this need, she initiated an effort here that now recycles six to
eight cartons of paper per week, plus cardboard, food containers and other materials. She has created a collection system and
spends 1 ½-2 hours weekly at the church hauling the materials out. She had been advocating for a long time for
the church to add a recycling bin to our waste service and, with that recent
addition, it is easier for our community to join in this way of preserving the
earth. Judy’s commitment to join with
God in meeting the deep needs of the world has increased the integrity of our
community, calling us all to faithfulness in caring for the earth.
Editors Note:
Judy will be
moving to Illinois in 2013 and wonders if there will be anyone with a similar
passion who will spearhead the TLC recycling effort in the future or if it will
fall by the wayside when she goes. Now
is a great time for anyone who might want to test out this ministry area for
themselves to talk with Judy and shadow her for a week or two to explore if it
might be part of your vocation to join with God in meeting the deep needs of
the world.
