sidewalk motes in my eye

Every day I walk Mr. Pink, the yellow dog, 'round the 'hood, passing along perfectly manicured lawns and gorgeous flower beds up to the river for a little swim. As we walk along, I have to dodge downpours from sprinklers and sidestep miniature sidewalk motes. I wont deny that it feels good to get a little splash when it's 100 plus degrees out but last time I checked, we didn't get too much of a snow pack this year and we just came out of and could be heading into another drought.

Equally as frustrating as freely flowing water on sidewalks, is a brother or sister opening or closing a church meeting with a plea from the Lord to "bless us with moisture".

I'm old fashioned. I don't know if it's appropriate to ask our Heavenly Father for something that we are just going to waste in the ground, on the sidewalk, on the street or in the gutter.

Furthermore, what would ever give someone the impression that it's OK to ask for something in a public prayer that he or she already has and doesn't dare to conserve?

Tons of money and effort goes into building dams and rerouting rivers and streams in this gorgeous western landscape so that we may have clean drinking water but most of the water we consume in the west goes towards irrigation. Believe me, my eyes are delighted at the sight of a well kept green lawn and pretty flowers but when I think about long term ecological and social effects of damming rivers and tapping aquifers , the issue becomes so much more than "curb appeal".

Are we not stewards of this earth? Should we not be mindful of our most precious natural resources, especially when we are taking from our neighbors to suit our own desires and comforts? Of all the things a body requires to sustain life, water is at the core and if we continue to consume and waste at the rate we are doing today, we wont be fighting wars in Iraq, but wars in our backyard over land and water rights.

Not nearly enough effort and emphasis is placed on the concept of conservation in this country. If we are truly Stewards and Saints, we should not be put out by the suggestion of letting our "Kentucky Blue" go brown during it's normal August dormancy. Nor should we consider it inconvenient to install water saving taps and toilets to save a few gallons here and there.

We are truly blessed to live in these United States, where, at the present time,water is cheap and clean. May we act upon that blessing from the Lord with gratitude and conservation.