Sometimes it is hard to make the right decision.

This is true on an individual level as well as on a larger, group or corporate level. It seems like the measuring stick that we so often use is whether or not the process, or the outcome, will be comfortable for the person making the decision. What I am trying to say is that producing a positive outcome may require an uncomfortable process; conversely, a comfortable process, i.e. maintaining the status quo, may end up with negative, long – term results.

We are now in the season of lent.

Lent used to be a time of “doing without.” But we don’t do that anymore, maybe because it is hard and often rather uncomfortable. Instead we are told to think and pray about things that we have not done, or things that we have left unsaid, that we should have said or done. In a nutshell, we are asked to reflect upon what we should really be doing if we are answering the call to be Christian. I would go so far as to say that being a Christian is not a necessary part of the equation. Lent, and the coming of spring, is a time for all of us to think about what we should be doing, or saying, to make our community a better place for our having been here… much easier said than done.

Many of us work for churches or social agencies that try to address issues like hunger, unemployment, health and abuse. Some of us volunteer, some give money and some have chosen this form of service as a life’s work over a career that would pay a whole lot more.

This is a Conservation Corner, so how we address environmental challenges is what I am thinking about during this lenten season.