“We’re not saying don’t cut [down any trees], we’re saying, cut like it’s a gift, not like you’ve earned it. Nobody likes to take more gift than they need” (Powers, 289). A small shift in perspective can change many things. Scripture is very clear that humans are only caretakers and stewards of the natural world, of Creation. We are not owners of trees nor any other part of the landscape. If we act like the Creation which encompasses us is a gift freely offered, can we wonder how differently our consumption of physical goods occurs? Can we wonder how our advocacy for using less things and manufacturing less single use items becomes more fervent? Can we wonder how we might reorient our expectations in the communities of which we are are a part? And can we wonder how we humans, as a part of Creation, are a gift whose love and labors are not earned, but sacred gifts of inherent value?
Powers, Richard. The Overstory.