Two young men were hiking along a wooded trail.

After eating a granola bar, one of the boys took the last bite and tossed the wrapper into a pile of dead leaves. The other young man commented on his friend’s littering, took a few steps back, picked up the wrapper, shoved it in his backpack, and continued walking.

“It’s just one wrapper,” the wrapper-thrower said. “One little piece of paper here and there won’t hurt. The field mice will use it to make a nest.”

“What if everyone thought that?” his friend replied.

Nothing more was said and the two enjoyed the rest of the day, but as they were driving back to their dorm, one young man who had picked up the wrapper took a little detour. He drove to a run-down neighborhood where the streets and yards were filled with litter.

“This is what everyone’s one piece of paper looks like,” he said, softly. Then he turned the corner and drove back to their dorm.

The earth and our environment are on loan to us from God. He made them with exquisite care. He has asked us to care for them and treat them with the kind of TLC that He put into creating them.