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I took two showers yesterday.  That was probably eight or nine gallons of clean, drinkable water.  Just like every other day, it didn’t cross my mind to be thankful for clean, running water.  I’ve had it all of my life and have never had a reason to doubt that it would be there when I turned the knob.  The story is the same with the other 190 gallons I used yesterday.

This is not the situation for almost half of humanity.  Here are some of the startling statistics:

• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
• There are around 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea.
• 443 million school days are lost each year from water-related illness.
• Close to half of all people in developing countries are suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits. (Source)

The answer is not to sit around feeling guilty about the water we use.  That would not benefit anyone.  Plus, I don’t want you taking fewer showers.  That would be adding one problem to another.

One thing we can do is to support organizations like Blood:Water Mission as part of our regular monthly giving.  B:WM has delivered clean water to over 276,000 people in Africa.  If you are wondering how you could possibly help, their website says that $1 provides one year of clean water for an African.

One dollar.  One year.  One person.

Let us continue to align ourselves with God’s heartbeat for the poor.  Even if we aren’t the ones digging the wells, our support of an organization like Blood:Water Mission can connect us with the ways that God is at work in the pain of poverty throughout the world.

The global average temperature is about 1° Fahrenheit higher than it was a century ago. This one degree has caused a lot of fuss, including one of my least favorite vice presidents, Al Gore, winning a share of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The fuss isn’t all bad. I may disagree with the way that Al Gore wants to turn around our pollution problems, but I am glad for the new awareness that has been born from all the hoopla he has created. Unfortunately, many Christians are unable to get past the politics to see the need to take responsibility in caring for creation.

I have lost count of the number of conversations where I thought the topic was our responsibility to care for creation, but within a couple of minutes, we are talking about politics and global warming. Is it possible to have good dialogue with a Christian about the environment without changing the subject to how bad Al Gore and the Democrats are? I don’t want to talk about how to clean up Al Gore, I want to talk about how to clean up our environment. I want to talk about the small steps that I can take to contribute to a larger community of effort. That discussion has nothing to do with politics.

When it comes to the politics of this discussion, I recognize that there are a lot of dollars at stake in the federal government. There is a lot to debate when it comes to the government’s role in keeping clean the air, water, and land of the brave. However, I think it would benefit us to separate the two issues, so that personal responsibility doesn’t get lost in a debate over where to draw political lines.

*This post is a part of Blog Action Day.