Greed vs. glory: Spiritual questions of the Haynesville Shale
by Diane Haag - Shreveport Times (excerpt)

Amid the jubilation of bonuses, leases and unexpected cash, the Haynesville Shale has started raising some deeper, darker questions. In some cases, an undertone — and not always a subtle one — of greed and jealousy has crept into the conversations.

How did they get that? Why didn't we? What do we do now? And conflicts could get worse as energy companies pull back, leaving more disparity.

Answers to these kinds of questions can't come from landmen or lawyers. They're more philosophical and, in the Bible Belt, we would say spiritual.

Ministers have heard the talk in town and in their own conversations, and now they're trying to decide the best way to address the questions and concerns.

"We've had people where greed is driving families apart," said the Rev. John Robert Black, associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in Bossier City.

It led him to preach an entire sermon on the Shale, wealth and its blessings and curses. He said it received the best response of any message he had ever preached.

To look at the Shale spiritually, ministers start with the idea that the huge natural gas deposit is a blessing, a gift.

"We didn't earn that," Black said. "We don't need to pretend that we did it ourselves."