Fifty days

It's been fifty days since the tragic loss of life and the sinking of the BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico which has resulted in the release of millions of gallons of crude oil into the ocean, spreading along the coastline from Louisiana to Florida. News video from the region depicts struggling fowl and fish, slimy wetlands, tar-caked beaches. The economic impact on the fishing industry, tourism, government and every other enterprise is impossible to guage. Containment efforts have been largely ineffective so far, clean-up a massive and unprecedented challenge.

Naturally, people are eager to know who is ultimately responsible for this debacle. There's plenty of blame to go around. But yesterday I heard a comment from pop singer Jimmy Buffet that I thought worth pondering. He noted that because of our oil-dependent lifestyle, we all have a share of the responsibility. Hard to hear, but it has the ring of truth to me.

Stewardship of life, of natural resources, of gifts and talents and possessions is an essential part of being a Christian disciple. Yet for many of us, the use of natural resources, such as oil, scarcely registers except in our dismay at the pump prices. As disgusted as I am with the oil spill, am I willing to consider a simplified lifestyle that (taken collectively) could reduce the risks to society and the world at large?