Tradeoffs

Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.

As you may be aware, next week I will be heading out on a prayer journey to the gulf coast to pray with people there for the effects of the oil spill. Since our trip will cover a large distance (New Orleans to St. George Island) it is too great to walk or even bike. Unfortunately, we will need to travel by vehicle. Additionally, our various constraints and meetings rule out the possibility of using public transportation. At the same time, however, we do not want to use oil excessively to get around since the problem here is oil.

While we thought it would be ideal to take an electric vehicle for the trip, they are not exactly easy to come by. The more realistic solution we came up with was to rent a hybrid for the trip. This would provide us with the mobility we needed, but allow us to signal our desire to opt out of the oil culture.

Unfortunately, after countless hours researching, visiting websites, and making phone calls, I have been totally unable to track down a Prius or other hybrid to rent anywhere in the area during the time of our trip. I have tried just about every last avenue possible in order to make this work. Perhaps it is the conglomeration of environmentally-minded media in town for the oil spill coverage that has reserved all the hybrids. Or perhaps it merely signals how dependent our culture is on gas-guzzling vehicles and that there are very few in stock. Either way, I am pretty much out of luck.

* Image from http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/photo-gallery.html

Often when trying to care for God’s creation, we bump into challenges such as these. We want to opt for the ultra-green choice but it isn’t actually available to us. Sometimes this is due to cost. Sometimes availability. Sometimes information. Whatever the reason – whether we like it or not – the perfect alternative is not always available to us.

The challenge I have had this week is less about the time and energy spent finding the perfect vehicle and more about coming to terms with the idea of not having it. I so wanted to have that gas-sipping hybrid and yet it has eluded my grasp. I have really struggled to let that go.

Fortunately, I am reminded that our God does not just look at the outward appearance but considers our hearts. Perhaps some people will not appreciate the fact that our car will likely not have the little hybrid symbol on it, but I know that our Lord is aware of the effort I put into this.

That is the thing that I have really learned this week. There will be times where we cannot attain that perfect option, but we can know that our efforts and desire to care for creation will not go unnoticed.

In the end it looks like I will have to accept the tradeoff here. While I probably won’t be driving down the coast highway in a shiny electric or hybrid vehicle, I will at least be riding in an economy vehicle. More importantly, I know that I tried my best to care for God’s creation. The rest I place in the hands of the Redeemer of all things.

Also consider:

Green Adventures: Personal Garden

The Norm

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