Why the "4" in Green 4 God?

I promised that I would explain my strange use of the number "4" in my next post so, in order to keep my promise, let me begin.

When I began my research about the theological basis for stewardship of the environment, I found several websites that discussed the issue.  One very helpful website was the site run by the Catholic Conservation Center (http://www.conservation.catholic.org/).  It's a site filled with information about Catholicism and the environment.  I highly recommend that you check it out.

In it, there are many sources such as writings by saints, popes, bishops and, of course, Holy Scripture.  It was there that I saw how pivotal scripture was to our beliefs about creation.  Four significant scripture passages caught my attention.

But my early connection between Temperance and the environment was still strong and important to me.  I studied the Catechism and began to see that all the virtues could be applied to creation.  Interestingly, there are four cardinal virtues.  There's that number again. . .

Both Scripture and the Virtues are key to the formation of our faith but Jesus taught us to strive for more.  Living by the letter of the law is not enough.  Instead, we are challenged to love God through our relationships with others and, in so doing, with Him. Specifically, we are called to take care of the poor. 

Because the poor are especially vulnerable to environmental changes, we must be their advocates.  Taking care of Creation also takes care of the poor.  (More to follow on this in future posts.)  So, we should be good stewards of Creation for the poor. (I know, the "for" thing is a stretch but work with me.)

Finally, Creation should give glory to the Creator, our Heavenly Father.  If Creation is not esteemed and admired through the loving care of God's people, it is a reflection of our attitude toward the One who created it.  In other words, we should care for Creation for God.

As I began to organize my thoughts into a mental "book", I looked for a way to get the readers' attention and also give them a way to easily remember the core of this theology.  I noted the recurrence of the number and word four/for and the rest is history.

So, Green 4 God focuses on 4 areas of theology:  Scripture, Virtues, the poor and God, to explain our role as stewards and the importance of that role.

Next post:  A little more about Scripture. . .