A few years ago, on a sunny fall afternoon, I sat on a worn granite step just east of Saint Peter’s Basilica. I had taken an article written twenty years earlier outside to study. The article, by John Paul II, was an impassioned plea to Christians, particularly wealthy Westerners, to stop harming the environment. Throughout his later decades, the pope wrote repeatedly and prophetically on this theme. His words watered a seed that had been growing in my Western, evangelical heart.
A dozen strides away from me, an elderly woman wrapped in black sat on the pavement with her back against a tall building. Her right hand rested on the ground. She was begging, and she was being ignored. I watched her for a while. An astonishing variety of people passed. Native Italians strolled by, as did a group of men with shaved heads and saffron-colored robes touring from the Far East. Dramatic, dark-skinned Africans wearing vividly dyed cotton clothing walked side by side with somberly dressed Muslims and women in burkas. Then I saw one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed.Three nuns, all advanced in age, subtly detached themselves from the stream of pedestrians. One quietly stooped over and placed money in the beggar’s outstretched palm. A moment later, the nun and her friends were caught up in the flow of traffic. The gift was as subtle as a Cold War microfilm handoff. It was done with utter humility, intended to be witnessed by no one.
Actions, deeds, and works of charity get heaven’s attention. The words spoken on earth that autumn day in Italy are now forgotten. Yet the miracle I witnessed allowed me, for a moment, to glimpse what God sees—our hearts. In that humble gift to a beggar, I heard the trumpets of heaven sound. God’s beautiful earth will not be saved by words or good intentions. It will be saved by humble, anonymous acts like turning off the lights, hanging clothing on the line, bicycling to work, and planting trees. People who are grateful for God’s abundant gifts, people of faith who are not afraid to be held accountable for care of his creation, will save it.
Adapted from Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action, by Matthew Sleeth, MD
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ABOUT MATTHEW SLEETH, MD
A former emergency room physician, Matthew Sleeth, MD, felt like he was straightening deck chairs on the Titanic saving one patient at a time while the whole ship (Earth) was going down. Together with his wife and two teenaged children, he began to bring his lifestyle in line with his values, cutting back on their fossil fuel by two thirds and electricity use by nine tenths.
Following a new calling, Dr. Sleeth resigned from his position as chief of the medical staff and director of the ER to teach, preach, and write about faith and the environment throughout the country.
Dr. Sleeth is a graduate of The George Washington University School of Medicine and has two post doctoral fellowships. He is the teacher in a 12-part creation care film series, and the author of Serve God , Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action (Zondervan, April 2007), the introduction to the Green Bible (2008, HarperOne), and The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book is a Green Book (HarperOne, April 2010).
Dr. Sleeth also currently serves as the executive director of Blessed Earth and makes his home in Wilmore, Ky., with his wife, Nancy.
RELATED LINKS
Blessed Earth
Matthew Sleeth Online
Nancy Sleeth Online
BUY Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action
Student Review of Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action
