Ari Derfel didn’t throw away his garbage, on purpose. For 12 months the 35 year-old catering company owner stored all his waste inside his Berkley, California apartment. Derfel struck upon the idea after looking for statistics about how much refuse each human produces. Unimpressed with the abstract data, he decided to see for himself – empirically.

The result: a putrid lesson from sacks of flattened metal cans, milk jugs, soiled paper towels, and stacks of newspapers.

The moral: We make a mess. Each of us leaves behind a measurable trash footprint that contributes to the garbage crisis of the planet. This is undeniable.

But just as damaging – we also generate another kind of residue from our moral and immoral choices.  All of us, intentionally or unintentionally make a mess of the world. The white lie I told in 7th grade is still spinning around the universe making a muck of things. And I’m liable. Yes, we all leave a spiritual trash footprint. And of Karma is in any way a accurate way to look at the world, I’m liable for that mess.

What to do? Religions of all sorts devise solutions to our moral culpability. Do any of those solutions actually work? Is there any way to clean up our ethical toxic waste? Is there any place to dump our trash?

Jesus offers a stunning and surprising solution. Explore his way at www.dumpyourkarma.com.

Then tell your own story here…

More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad