"The truly ‘mysterious' object is beyond our apprehension... not only because our knowledge has certain irremovable
limits, but because in it we come upon something inherently ‘wholly other'... and before which we
therefore recoil in a wonder that strikes us chill and numb." - Rudolph Otto
Show: The Human Footprint Network: The National Geographic Channel
Ever lament that no one would notice if you just disappeared? After watching The Human Footprint on the National Geographic Channel it's hard to believe that could be true, considering the average American eats the weight of a family car in hamburgers in a lifetime. It seems like we hear statistic everyday about our effects on our world, and while those statistics can be shocking in some regards, numbers are easy to forget and difficult to translate into real images. That's what is so amazing about The Human Footprint. The producers and crew of this show actually laid out an average American's lifetime usage of a variety of products, including milk, soap, toothpaste, shampoo, bread, diapers, clothes, showers, bananas and eggs... No computer generated images here. (Click the image above to see some of these items.)
Recently Eric Kuiper and I were discussing the possibility of not creating any physical waste (i.e. not throwing anything away) for an entire week (Eric and his wife Kate at one point aspired to do this). But the longer we talked the larger this task seemed to become. Just think for a second what that would mean: no fast food, being only able to buy very select things at the grocery store, and almost nothing at any other store since almost everything we buy comes heavily packaged (even just a tag on a new shirt would negate the experiment).
Pondering how much I throwaway with Eric and watching The Human Footprint helped me understand and see in a very real way just how "large" and expansive my life is. I'm leaving my legacy all over the world (literally)... and that legacy is physically substantial. But that's not it--all of this got me thinking about my spiritual/emotional legacy. The writer CS Lewis, in his book The Weight of Glory, says, "You have never talked to a mere mortal[...]it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors."
The National Geographic Channel may be able to lay out all the bananas I will eat in a lifetime, but they can't lay out the emotional/spiritual impact of all the interactions I will have in a lifetime. As shocking as it was to see my physical impact it might be even more shocking if National Geographic could somehow measure the impact of each person I have snubbed and will ever snub in my life.
We'll see how/if I am able to live my life differently after watching The Human Footprint, but I can assure you that seeing the images from the show helped me to begin to grasp just how "large" my life is. We live in a time when our influence is larger than ever. The question is if that influence will only be used for personal gain and convenience or if/how we can use that influence for the benefit of those around us and for the Creation we have sprung from.
The Human Footprint airs again on The National Geographic Channel Monday, April 14 at Midnight and Sunday, April 20 at 4pm (all times Eastern)
Click HERE for the Human Footprint site and a consumption quiz
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