If my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.

2 Chronicles 7:14

My father regularly took me and my siblings to the local tip (the Australian word for recycling centre). He was an avid gardener. He would connect his small, rusty trailer to the car. We would help him haul the greenery from the garden until the trailer was filled with cuttings like eucalyptus trimmings or grassy weeds and tied up with ropes. We could head off on an adventure which would end with the faint smell of compost on our jeans and our mouths feeling grimy as that unmistakable garbage dump smell permeated our skin.

We were allowed to wander and pick through the piles of other peoples' junk. We found dolls and suitcases and furniture and would beg my father to let us take stuff home. It seems a ridiculous adventure, considering the risk of germs and sharp objects. Still, in simpler times, it was just a treasure trove. We learned to salvage, rescue, and save. We learnt that one man's trash could be another man's treasure. Those grimy things can be cleaned. Everything can be redeemed.

In this century, we are on course to see better use of resources globally and a more respectful relationship to our shocking waste buildup. We are simultaneously dealing with deep piles of justice fallout that have been rotting in the global tip for decades. We are picking through the garbage of the past. It is worth noting that we are trying to solve both global problems, physical (ecological) and spiritual (human). Both indeed fit in the story of our reconciliation with God. We read in Genesis that God breathed life into the earth and then into humankind. He wants to see reconciliation in both our earth and all humanity. He came to earth, our second Adam, to demonstrate how serious he is about helping us escape our mess.

If the natural speaks of the spiritual in any way, our efforts to right ecological wrongs might mirror or foreshadow the redeeming of the soul of man. Creating a humanity intent on treasuring all humanity, animals, and the planet. A humanity that owns up to the injustices of the past. A society moving away from a clinical, frightened sort of separateness and glorification of the individual.

As we comb through the piles of garbage - the trash of wars, apartheid, racism and tribal brutality, I remain hopeful. But it is messy, and the risks are high.