Years ago, before childhood cancer had raised its ugly head, I was a youth leader for the young women in my congregation. This was during the era when the iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc. were new and exciting. It seemed that if you put a lowercase i in front of any word – it would just become really cool…. So, of course, we spent a summer with a cool theme for our activities – iCan. This was short for iCan do hard things.

Already planning to write this post I was intrigued last week to hear a friend quote Captain Kirk, “I have no idea what I am supposed to do. I only know what I can do.” I am guessing that Captain Kirk didn’t say “iCan,” but he probably would have if he had just thought of it in time.

So now it would seem that it is time to talk about how weCan all do hard things… (So predictable!) This is even better than that… Just for fun, let’s talk about the last nine months or so when my walking buddies and I have been picking up aluminum CANS…. and having a wonderful time.

It all began one morning when my friend pulled a trash bag out of her pocket. “I’ve had it!” she exclaimed, and then we all looked and saw the pile of beer cans that we had been passing each day for over a year. She just couldn’t look at them another day. That particular pile rejuvenates itself each week. It is right at the base of a telephone pole so we can imagine this drinker-driver enjoying a little target practice on his way home each day. On our alternate route there is a large piece of sheet metal that also rejuvenates itself – each week filling with a new batch of Natural Light… or is it Coors Light? I get them confused… anyway we figure that person not only likes a little target practice, they also enjoy the twang they hear each time the can hits the metal.

How does it work? At least one of us will be found with a grocery bag or two tucked into our waistband or pocket. We don’t skip a beat as we wander off road to pick up a can or two, usually throwing it onto the road to be smashed and then moving on with our walk. Occasionally we drive to a new part of town or down by the lake – we will end our walk with fewer steps but several bags. One of us (not me) is always willing to climb through barbed wire fences for a can, and then will wander through the shrubs until her bag is full.

It is amazing how many people throw their trash out the window! Who does this?? I have never even considered doing this, nor have I been in a car and witnessed it happening. Yet it seems to be something that happens on a regular basis. Beer cans are the most common “can” to be found (for sure) and we would love to say that throwing trash out the window has something to do with drinking and driving. Truthfully there are an awful lot of water bottles as well…. and gatorade, candy wrappers, fast food trash… you name it, we have found it. Again, who is doing this?

Why do we do this? First of all we find it highly entertaining. We know that it is weird and we are highly amused with ourselves. It is a fun challenge and livens up our walks. Our families think that we are crazy, especially because we see cans everywhere we go now – and often have to use self control to not pick them all up or dig through trash cans. We have all been known to pull over and grab some from the side of the road though my friend with teens at home often hears, “No! Mom! People will think that we are homeless!”

I can tell you this – as family members have joined us from time to time they have all jumped right in to the “hunt.”. It is an enjoyable transformation to watch them go from eye-rolling to can collecting. From time to time a family member or coworker will bring us a bag of cans. I should also mention that we have earned over $200. Again, we are highly amused with it all.

That being said, we have discovered something more than amusement. We are feeling the joy of doing just the smallest part of keeping the earth clean! A scenario that happens over and over is this – we walk along the same path for months, picking up every can we see, and then suddenly an old, faded, smashed can will be there, impossible to miss! How could we have missed it? After awhile we began to feel that Mother Earth is grateful for the work we are doing and pushing cans to the surface, or making them shimmer at the base of a shrub. We can spot the smallest corner of freshly exposed aluminum and cheer when an entire can is unearthed. Taking a little care of our corner of the earth brings us joy.

Here are two beautiful paragraphs that I love:

This beautiful earth is the creation of God. To truly reverence the Creator, we must appreciate His creations. The earth, all living things, and the expanse of the universe all eloquently witness of Him. As beneficiaries of the divine creation, “we should care for the earth, be wise stewards over it, and preserve it for future generations.”

The earth and all of God’s creations on it are part of His plan for the redemption of His children and should be used “with judgement, not to excess, to sustain the human family. Our care of the earth is “an integral component of our discipleship” and a sacred responsibility. We are accountable to God for our care of the earth and those in need.

Those are official statements from my church.

The three of us are grateful to feel the spirit of stewardship for our corner of the world. iCan make a difference. uCan also.