I've been riding the bus to and from work for around ten years now, from which vantage point I can look up from my reading occasionally to see the endless stream of cars along the freeway - most with one driver at the wheel and no passengers. And a couple of years ago I capitulated to the forces of logic and traded the beloved but gas-guzzling Land Rover - an admitted indulgence --for a fuel-efficient, four-cylinder car.

Can I say this is motivated primarily by religious convictions? Honestly, no. It's been driven more by common sense and an increasingly urgent desire to make a contribution.

However - and my view here is strictly my own - if I want to look for affirmation from my religious faith it's not hard to find. Statements are on record from virtually every president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints back to the mid-19th century. Many of them are wrapped up in the powerful concept of stewardship - that the Lord has given us dominion over the earth, but that we are occupiers rather than possessors and that we will be held accountable for its use.

Modern Church scriptures affirm that resources from the earth are to be "used with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion." And the present Church president, Gordon B. Hinckley, said: "This earth is His creation. When we make it ugly, we offend Him."

Former Church president Joseph F. Smith observed that "men cannot worship the Creator and look with careless indifference upon his creatures....Love of nature is akin to the love of God; the two are inseparable."

More recently, Church president Spencer W. Kimball in the mid-1970s appealed to Church members worldwide not to waste resources, to care for and keep their property productive and beautiful, and to avoid pollution - a condition, he said, that is "intolerable in the sight of the Lord."

Church leader Neal A. Maxwell, taught: "True disciples...would be consistent environmentalists - caring both about maintaining the spiritual health of a marriage and preserving a rain forest; caring about preserving the nurturing capacity of a family as well as providing a healthy supply of air and water….

And the great colonizer Brigham Young noted: "All that we possess and enjoy are the gifts of God to us….we are accountable to Him for the use we make of these precious gifts....It is not our privilege to waste the Lord's substance."

For these leaders, at least, understanding their relationship to God's creations seemed to be a matter of conscience. I’m glad about that because I’ve also encountered religious folk who shrug their shoulders and say that God will take care of everything, and not to worry. I don’t agree, and I think that if religion can motivate people to action, so much the better.