There’s a movement afoot called ‘The New Urbanism.’  Have you heard of it?  It’s essentially a call to stop urban sprawl; to reverse the trends of the past decades that promote vehicular lifestyles rather than self-contained, pedestrian-friendly communities.  There’s a lot of merit in their assertions.  Before going further in this discussion however, I should ‘fess up to my habitat bias:  I live a lifestyle that totally sleeves with the premise of this ‘New Urbanism.’  Our home is no more than 4 blocks from just about any kind of service you’d need (including a number of tattoo parlours … but that’s a whole different topic!).  I generally walk or bike to work.  One of my kids

walks or bikes to school - the other one still takes a school bus.  It’s amazing how little driving we have to do to deal with our day-to-day life needs.  We can even walk to church. 

Organizationally, The Salvation Army is starting to look a lot harder at issues of environmental impact.  We’re seriously looking at how our choices reflect on the call to be good stewards.  There’s a lot of hard questions floating around out there, and straightforward easy answers don’t always surface.  What is our obligation – as an organization? As employees? As church-members? Or simply as Christians?   Is it wrong to live on a cul de sac?  What if you can’t afford a dishwasher but you can afford Styrofoam cups?  Is driving to shop at Walmart necessarily wrong?  Everywhere you turn there’s an article that can either riddle you with guilt or fuel the conviction of your choices. 

Do we have the answers?  No, unfortunately it’s just not that easy.  I do believe, though, that the fact we’re beginning to ask the questions is a great start.  As people of integrity, we need to look at all aspects of what we do and say, and make sure it fits with the deepest convictions of our faith.  We need to be challenged; and movements like ‘The New Urbanism’ call us to think hard, to think through our choices and, with grace, be stewards of this amazing planet we’re fortunate to call home.

Here’s a URL for a short YouTube clip on the new urbanism …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGJt_YXIoJI&feature=player_embedded