nobel prize

Many times, the Nobel Peace Prize serves to acknowledge and celebrate past achievements. This year's prize - given to Al Gore - does more. It both celebrates and PROMOTES the very cause that it is celebrating: motivating people to tend carefully and urgently to this precious world of ours.

May our work be bolstered by this worthy award.

A quote for the day from "Inspiring Progress: religions' contributions to sustainable development" by Gary T. Gardner:

"Suppose that every time a product designer, factory manager, or consumer uses an economic resource - when a car is designed, a batch of steel is ordered, or a paper towel is used - each of these economic actors gives a prayer of thanks for the resource bounty before them, and promises to use only as much as they really need." (p. 58)

It might change not just our attitude toward all sorts of consumption but our behavior as well. Which is precisely the power of the blessings we say before and after eating; when we see a tree in bloom; or wear something we have never worn before. Perhaps we can bolster our daily acts with even more spiritual disciplines. As we go through tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, perhaps we can pause before everything we use and offer such a prayer of awareness and gratitude. And then at the end of the day, we can see how exhausted we are at the abundance of our expressions; whether we needed to use quite as much as we did. And what we must do to preserve the existence of such bounties, and such blessings.