This morning when I woke up, I thought today was just going to be another great day off work. It turned out to be so much more. Today, so many important and symbolic days collide:

1. Good Friday - An important Christian day to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; I’m not Christian but that’s okay because today I got to see my friends’ little ones go on an Easter Egg Hunt.
   
   
2. Earth Day – A day for us to truly consider our footprint on our planet; even Google is celebrating it on their homepage today.
   
3. Advance voting day – We’re in the process of making a huge decision about the future of our country and we only have until May 2 to do so.
4. My best friend’s dad’s birthday – Happy birthday, Peter in Saudi Arabia!

For me, it has so far been a profound and important day. Here’s why.

While sitting on my sofa playing Words With Friends on my iPhone (my new addiction which I did not give up for Lent), there was a knock at the door. It was the JW making a Good Friday visit. When Jan and Maggie asked if I believe in God, I decided not to be evasive and try to get rid of them as fast as possible (which is what I usually do). I figured I should be open minded enough to consider being Christian — today of all days. So let me hear them out and engage with them in a meaningful conversation. You never know where this could go.

We covered the environment (which was fitting for Earth Day), love (always a hot topic), nature (one of my favourite subjects), prophecies (from the Bible) and spirituality in today’s society (a topic I can go on about forever). It was fascinating to see where our beliefs converged and where they diverged. We discussed the difference between following your heart and following your desires. We discussed the peril of our planet and how humans don’t seem to understand how grave the situation is. We agreed that animals and humans were created by the same God. We agreed that in love, one doesn’t count and hold onto past hurts. Where Jan felt we were blessed with a mind that we should use to inform ourselves about how to live, I shared my belief that the mind is a curse and cannot be trusted and that we must find a way to discover our inner truths and live by them. We both vehemently agreed that government sucks.

Jan promised that God was going to come down and become our ultimate ruler and remove all governments. I said I would very much like for this to happen but asked if this would not just become another government. She laughed, held my arm and then went on to the next topic.

Jan read a passage that said the planet was going to go into ruin (a prophecy which is clearly coming true and has in fact been true many times before) and that God was going to come down when that happens and ruin those who are ruining our planet. This confused me. So, I asked Jan a few questions. If God is truly in charge of everything and overseeing this whole place, how is it that the destruction of the planet is not also God’s work? How can God be everything, but not the ruin of the planet? And where is God if he’s not here watching the ruin of the planet? Literally. Where is this God? She said she needed to get back to me on that one and asked if next Sunday afternoon was a good time to visit again.

It was just so perfect that Jan and I were able to discuss God’s involvement in the future of our planet on Earth Day. I look forward to our next discussion but I am, in the meantime, taking very careful steps to ensure that I do my part to make the planet a better place. I do believe it’s in dire shape and that if things don’t radically change, we may not live to see the future for much longer. Here’s what I think: everyday should be Earth day. Everyday we should ask ourselves how we can make better decisions for our planet. Everyday we should care about the sustainability of our actions and our impact on our “home.” Earth is a beautiful and amazing living, breathing creation. It is here trying to help us live, so we owe it the same respect.

And this leads to my decision at the polls. Tonight, I will be going to the advance polls in Calgary to vote for the Green Party. I’ll be honest, I don’t align with them on everything, but their principles of sustainability are applicable to more than just the environment and their fierce focus on the economy, the environment and community are critical. I think Elizabeth May is an intelligent woman who should have a voice in Canada’s future (and should have had one at the national debate).

So, this Good Friday, this Earth Day, I’m going to use the mind that Jan told me God gave me and exercise my right to vote for a better planet.