One of the gifts of growing older is that I have become more aware of my own mortality. I have known intellectually that all human beings die for all or most of my adult life, but there is something about being in my 70s that has made me more emotionally aware that I have more years behind me than ahead. This reality is not troubling for me. In ways, I think I am less afraid of my own death than was the case when I was younger. Knowing that I will one day die has not made me less interested in the future. I am excited and eager to invest in things that I know will last beyond the span of my time on this earth. I enjoy planting trees and thinking about things that will outlive me. I enjoy my time working with children and imagining their future that will play out in a timeframe that likely extends farther into the future than mine.

A gift of this awareness is that I am less likely to see possessions as mine alone and more likely to think about how the decisions I make today have an impact on tomorrow. I am less interested in acquiring material possessions. I am more likely to think of the things I “own” as things of which I am a temporary steward and which will pass to others at some point.

This is especially true of some of the investments and financial resources that we have. After our mother died, my sister and I served as trustees of a family trust. The asset of that trust was a piece of property in Montana. We managed that property for the benefit of our mother’s children and grandchildren. A couple of years ago, we decided that keeping the property was no longer in the best interests of those children and grandchildren. As our family grew and spread to other places, the majority of the heirs no longer had access to the property. Increasingly we were managing it for the benefit of a small percentage of those for whom the benefits of the property were intended. We made the decision to sell the property and distribute the financial assets to the beneficiaries. This would enable them to make independent decisions about the use of those assets and make present use of them for their lives.

Since I am one of the beneficiaries of a portion of the assets of the trust, I don’t view them as my possession solely. Rather, as our parents intended the property, they are an asset that is to be shared with future generations. My question is how do I invest those financial resources so that they are not just a benefit to me, but to those who come after me as well? This is made possible in part because we have been well treated by the congregations we have served who provided not only for our support when we were employed by them, but also invested in our retirement. We have the financial resources to meet our needs without having to consume all of the resources we have inherited. Of course there is no way of fully knowing what our future needs might be. Factors such as health can make a huge difference in what is needed.

While some of my siblings have chosen to invest the proceeds of the trust in homes, we have a beautiful home where we live.

We have, however, decided to make an investment in that home. I have been waiting to address this subject in my journal until the installation is complete, but yesterday installers completed the process of adding solar panels to our home. The system is not yet energized as we await final electrical inspection, installation of the net meter, and connection by the electrical utility company - events that will happen in the next few weeks.

The system is impressive - at least to me. It comprises of 30 solar panels installed on the roof of our home with micro inverters that convert the DC power of the panels into 240v ac energy. There are five zones in the system connected to produce 13.6 kW of power. The annual output of the system is projected to be approximately 130% of our current energy usage. The extra electricity will go to the utility company through a process of net metering which will reduce our annual electricity bill to the meter charge. Our panels will produce less than we consume during a few winter months when days are short in our part of the world, but will produce much more than we use for most of the year.

The reason for installing a system that produces more than current consumption is that it is part of a plan to eliminate the gas hot water heater and furnace that are currently installed in our home at some point in the future. The solar system is designed to produce energy for the items as well as energy for an anticipated electric vehicle charging system some time in the future.

It is unlikely that we will reap the financial benefits of this decision. We have projected that the system will take 20 to 25 years to cover the installation costs. We are unlikely to live in this home that long. And currently the installation of solar systems does not increase the value of private homes as much as the cost of their installations in our region. However, regardless of the direct financial benefit to us, this home has become less consumptive of a limited resource. No matter who owns the home and who reaps the benefit of not having to purchase electricity from the utility, this one house will be producing more energy than it consumes for the foreseeable future.

That should be a benefit not just to us but to all who inhabit this planet in the future. It is a small thing in the scheme of our global climate crisis, but it is at least a step in the right direction.

Please note: I will be traveling to South Carolina for the next couple of weeks. This shouldn’t affect my journal other than a difference in the time of day it is published as I will be three time zones to the East during our adventures.