Before last week, there is a good chance that your roof was not at the top of your list of major concerns.  If it was pelted by hail during the recent storm, your roof may have become a source of worry. Because of the massive damage in the short-lived storm, Butler County has been swarmed by colonies of contractors hoping to make a buck off of you.

Unless you are a roofer by trade, you may given little thought to the decking, shingles, and the other components that are used to build a roof.  A movement underway to change the constitution of roofs, may change that.

Facebook, the social media giant, installed a 9-acre green roof at its office in Menlo Park, California.  “Green roofs can reduce the retention of heat in urban areas, help to cool down buildings and thereby lower their energy use, and even pull some carbon dioxide from the air and feed it back into plant growth (The Washington Post).”

In the June edition of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, a report focuses on the psychological benefit of green roofs: 40-second Green Roof Views Sustain Attention: The Role of Micro-Breaks in Attention Restoration.

Kate Lee, the lead researcher of the study (University of Melbourne) has concluded that “Modern work drains attention throughout the day, so providing boosted ‘green micro-breaks’ may provide mental top-ups to offset declining attention.” If a person can look outside his office window and see a flowering meadow green roof instead of a bare concrete roof, he will experience cognitive benefits.

This new research, reminds me of a very old peace in the Bible.  This piece of peace is found in Psalm 23 where David spoke of God leading him to the “green pastures” and “still waters” to “restore his soul.”

To help you have a “green” moment, take just a second or two to read Psalm 23 from  The Message:

God, my shepherd!

    I don’t need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows,

    you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,

    you let me catch my breath

    and send me in the right direction.

Whatever your concern might be today, remember God is able!