probably one of the more unusual stewardship articles around...

I have spent a great deal of time looking through the various publications I have on stewardship to try and find some ideas to inspire. It is that time of year after all. While there was much I read that was good and helpful, the most eye-opening thing I came across is as follows: Upon being asked how to end world hunger, the Dali Llama replied “Share.” After reading this yet again I imagined the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all sitting together in their comfy chairs up in heaven holding their divine lattes looking at me and together saying, “Duh.”

For something that is on our kindergarten checklist of achievement, the statement is wildly profound. To share involves recognizing and honoring that someone else is involved in what is going on. It is to see, to be seen, and to respond to the other. It is also to trust that when something is shared it is not automatically going to be misused, but will be respected and enjoyed by the recipient just as much as the giver. I made a couple of sock monkeys for my young nieces. Abby and Lizzy are being loved to pieces which, while implying wear and tear, is really more than I could ever ask for. When we share we give over ownership and trust that what we offer will be honored and cared for.

Sharing does a lot to dispel that notion of ownership. There are some few things not really to be shared - even my friend, a member of a Catholic order in which everyone had communal property, lived with the understanding that his glasses and underwear were his own. But really, how much to do we think we need and refuse to give up before we start looking like Steve Martin in The Jerk walking around with an ashtray, a paddle-game and a remote control who definitely also needs that lamp? For my life I find food, shelter and companionship to be mighty fine things to have and all that I probably really need, but even those things I am willing to share. Everything else, all my stuff and all my money, it is there to share. Considering that all that I have and all that I even am is from God in the first place, it seems like the least I can do.

There are countless things to address regarding stewardship from the emphasis it places on social justice and equality for all people and care for all of God’s creation to the very practical matter of how to fit church giving into a slim budget that has little wiggle room to begin with. If we do not pray, think and talk about how we care for and share what we have been given, then we are not being faithful stewards of what God has provided for us and do not grow in our faith. And if it helps you ease into this process, I have discovered that imagining that I am still my little strawberry-blond, finger-painting, kindergarten self goes a long way in reminding me the basics of stewardship. May we all get “Satisfactory” written by our names.