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One Hour Of Darkness
By Rabbi Shea Hecht
April 4, 2008

Every so often a Current Events issue gives me pause to reflect on something in our own lives.

On March 29, at 8:00 pm, some businesses and homes across the world switched off their lights for one hour, to make a statement about global warming.

"It's largely symbolic," said Monica Echeverria, a spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Earth Hour project aimed to make people more aware of global warming and make them feel like they are working together as a team to save the health of our planet. The WWF hoped that the participants were inspired to change the light bulbs in their homes with compact fluorescents, which are much more economical and efficient.

The WWF feels that the global warming issue is one of the most difficult challenges we face, and it can only be solved if a large number of people work together.

When Earth Hour started in Australia, over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses turned their lights off for one hour, resulting in 10.2 percent energy reduction across the city.

I believe, as some studies today suggest, that the whole global warming issue is a hoax. However, whether you believe in global warming or not, I think we could learn a few things from Earth Hour.

ONE: If we want change we can all work together. If we work together to reach a common goal we will be successful.

TWO: We shouldn't waste. We should not waste energy, food or life.

Nothing is expendable.

Everything has a purpose.

THREE: Perhaps the most important lesson of Earth Day is on a personal level.

What if we each took one hour to try to change something important in our personal lives?

Imagine if we spent one more hour with our spouse? Would we see a change?

If we gave one more hour to our children? Would it make a difference?

Earth Day worked with one hour of darkness; perhaps we would do better to try to create changes that would shed some more light in our lives.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

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