Monday, September 23, 2013

Who Cares?

Renters and owners tend to have different perspectives.

For renters, there's a transaction: I pay you, you give me use of this (house, apartment, tool, truck, boat). I use it till I'm done with it, then walk away. For owners, there's an investment: I pay for this, maintain it, fix it and guard it, because it's mine and I want it to last a long time. Someday I may even sell it and will want to get the most out of this investment. 

Then there are managers. Managers have responsibility for something that belongs to someone else. They are charged with caring for the thing the way the owner wants. Like the owner, they go for increasing the value of the thing and for that, they usually reap some personal benefit. It might be a store, an account, a business, an athlete or a musician. Whatever they manage, they are also accountable for. At any point, the owner can say, "I like the way you're doing this," or "Are you kidding me?! You're out of here!" But a good manager, like an owner, takes good care of things.

What's your attitude when you stay in a hotel? Do you make the bed when you leave the room? I might straighten things a bit and pull up the cover, but I know when I come back at the end of the day it will be neat as a pin, because "that's what I pay for," right? At home, though, it's up to me. I make the bed, clean the dishes and the bathroom and the floors and the windows, because it's my place. I'm responsible for it.

Because of folks sharing our space at home for extended times, I catch myself analyzing my frustration over certain situations. Is this a matter of right vs.wrong or just a different way of doing a thing? Is it something to address or to release? After a series of mental questions, it usually comes down to this: I care because it's my home. I've got a long-term view, an investment view, a stewardship view.

But the latest question to plague me is, "What about the earth?" Is my attitude one of a consumer or a steward? I'm starting to feel an urge to embrace a nearby oak. To worship it? No, no more than I would worship the house we and the bank own. But to value it, to try to see its Owner's perspective, to act in the best interest of that Owner.

And to not mock in my heart those who are passionate about its care.



Sunday, September 1, 2013

A Moon, Not a Star


Our light shines as the moon’s.  

It is not from within ourselves but is a reflection of the radiance of the sun, whose light cannot be viewed directly, fully, without overwhelming, even blinding.

The moon does not generate its own light.  Staying where God put it, the moon reflects the right amount of light at the right time on the right parts of the earth.

Take care to avoid a spiritual eclipse, where we allow the world to get between us and God, blocking out our source of light, darkening the night.  Maybe worse, do not come between men and God, blocking their view, making their day dark.

You are a moon, not a star.


Photo credit Michael J Boyle
https://sphotos-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/406843_4516972613975_569620802_n.jpg