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Caring for Creation in Your Own Backyard
Why should New Age trends and philosophies shape the ecological agenda? Loren and Mary Ruth Wilkinson believe that it's time Christian families took a biblical position on environmental issues. In this wonderfully creative and practical book, they offer more than a hundred simple things you and your family can do to make God's earth a better place in which to live. But more than this, they show you how to celebrate God's creation through the seasons of the year. If you have wanted to get involved in environmentalism but felt overwhelmed or confused by the philosophies shaping the ecological movement, here is a book to help you sort through the confusion. It offers biblically-based answers and practical ideas that will not only help the environment but will enrich your life. In Caring for Creation in Your Own Backyard, you will discover a host of smart and simple things to do at home with your children, neighbours, and community. Learn how to: ?Shop for a better world ?Make creative and ecological meals that everyone enjoys ?Save money and energy through recycling and re-using ?Support businesses that care for creation?and much more! Loren and Mary Ruth Wilkinson have worked in both city and countryside putting principles of caring for creation to work. They live on Hunterston Farm, Galiano Island, British Columbia. Loren is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Philosophy at Regent College. He is editor of Earthkeeping: Christian Stewardship of Creation. Mary Ruth teaches as a sessional lecturer at Regent College.
- GenresNonfictionEnvironment
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2001
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 31, 2018
This book took me a really long time to read. Not because it's very long, but because I find this kind of book -- one that tells you how everything you are doing is harmful or wrong -- best to take in small doses. So after all that time, I have some mixed feelings about this book.
I liked the format. The book is broken into four main sections, each corresponding to a season. Each section as a devotional thought about creation and the season and God and then a couple of chapters that look at things to do that relate to how we use creation in that season.
I personally found the content was something I had to wrestle with. This book is almost thirty years old. I feel like a lot has changed in the last thirty years. So when they were listing stats or talking about certain things, I just kept wondering if that was still truth today. As with books of this type, I also felt slightly judged as I was reading it. I want to help the environment, but there are a lot of things going on in my live and some thing I just can't do. So I feel guilty about reading about all the good things they are suggesting and then thinking, but we can't do that right now or we all ready have so much else going on or that wouldn't even work here.
I enjoyed the final chapters more, maybe because I could sense I was getting to the end and so read them faster. I think this is an important message. Christians need to care about the world and need to be good stewards of creation. I'm not sure this is the best book to read about that. I think my opinion would be different if there was an updated version of this out there.
I liked the format. The book is broken into four main sections, each corresponding to a season. Each section as a devotional thought about creation and the season and God and then a couple of chapters that look at things to do that relate to how we use creation in that season.
I personally found the content was something I had to wrestle with. This book is almost thirty years old. I feel like a lot has changed in the last thirty years. So when they were listing stats or talking about certain things, I just kept wondering if that was still truth today. As with books of this type, I also felt slightly judged as I was reading it. I want to help the environment, but there are a lot of things going on in my live and some thing I just can't do. So I feel guilty about reading about all the good things they are suggesting and then thinking, but we can't do that right now or we all ready have so much else going on or that wouldn't even work here.
I enjoyed the final chapters more, maybe because I could sense I was getting to the end and so read them faster. I think this is an important message. Christians need to care about the world and need to be good stewards of creation. I'm not sure this is the best book to read about that. I think my opinion would be different if there was an updated version of this out there.
July 5, 2021
Helpful orientation to creation care.
August 30, 2009
Loren and Mary Ruth write a book that is both deeply theological and imminently practical. The foundation of this book is that because God loves creation, we should love creation, and care for it as a beloved thing. Their understanding of creation is large and comprehensive, and so their suggestions for how to care for creation apply to all areas of life: the home, consumption and waste, transportation, community life, and teaching children to love and care for creation.
While you could take their suggestions one at a time, and slowly change your habits, their book is best read while seeking to change your entire framework for understanding creation. Once you do that - from seeing it as something that we "use" to seeing it as something we love and care for - the smaller details will follow.
While you could take their suggestions one at a time, and slowly change your habits, their book is best read while seeking to change your entire framework for understanding creation. Once you do that - from seeing it as something that we "use" to seeing it as something we love and care for - the smaller details will follow.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews