We may be a long way away from the Garden of Eden, but there are some really interesting projects coming to light and giving birth to new "gardens of eden."  Seattle has approved the first urban food forest of its kind.  The idea is to have fruit trees open to all to harvest in a public park.  In addition, the entire ecosystem of the park is taken into account to make sure it is self-sustaining, a method call permaculture (think shorthand for permanent agriculture).

In novel writer Barbara Kingsolver's nonfiction autobiographical work, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, she chronicles the life of her family living one year on a farm as locally and sustainably as possible.  Food, Inc. is a great movie about the industrialized food complex and how concerning it is to our personal and society health, as well as how it damages the environment.

A new film called Elemental looks at various eco-activists fighting for our planet across three continents, showing a commitment to change how we do things and lead us into a new, brighter future. The film looks incredibly beautiful and moving.

While I was in the Philippines in January on a mission trip, I visited a local prison to see how our team might be able to help.  We discovered that most of the men being held there were detained while awaiting their trial, upwards of 7 years or more!  It was pretty easy to be disgusted and dismissive of the criminal justice system in the Philippines for subjugating people to such improper adjudication of justice.

And yet... the U.S. is holding about 160 men in Guantanamo Bay without charge... for over 10 years(!!).

We are so quick to condemn others of their shortcomings that we often fail to see our own.

We condemn terrorism while spreading terror in countries like Pakistan and Yemen with our increased drone attacks that can strike anytime, anywhere.

We condemn Egypt for arresting bloggers, comedians and opposition leaders as they stifle freedom of speech, even as the Obama Administration ratchets up their own campaign to punish any and all whistleblowers, Bradley Manning being the most famous "martyr" (original Greek meaning: witness) as the person responsible for the thousands of secret military documents shared by WikiLeaks.

We condemn Iran, Syria and North Korea for voting no on the first-ever International Arms Treaty, yet we scuttled an earlier attempt this summer and continue to keep substantive gun legislation from passing in Congress.

Should we not condemn the atrocious acts of others?  No, we should call out injustice where we see it, but let us also be wise and remember that as we judge, so too will we be judged.  We are to first take care of our own shortcomings before condemning those of others (Matt 7:1-5).