Today was the first day of our church's annual stewardship campaign. Lest you think otherwise, this is NOT my favorite season in the parish year. It usually features parishioners giving homilies from their experiences for several Sundays, besides "homework" of reading related Biblical passages on the topic, in advance of the Sunday when pledge cards are turned in, leading in turn to everyone receiving their annual supply of envelopes.
Sounds pretty simplistic & shallow, doesn't it? I agree; in fact, I challenge anyone to make the annual "shake down" (I've heard it called worse!) more an entertainment than a guilt-ridden exercise in balancing one's budget to include their house of worship.
While en route home from my brief visit with my eldest yesterday, I considered various forms of stewardship--not just in that "Ugh! Tithing time again!" context, but in the context of life in general. "Stewardship" is defined in the New Webster's Dictionary as "management," which pretty much sums up what our so-called "ownership" of all we have really is. Our spouses, our children, our pets, our bodies, our homes, our vehicles, our time, our talents, our treasure--all are to be managed carefully by us. Some do really well in all areas, others not so much in any given area. Some of us do better than others in certain areas. That's where I appreciate hubby, for some of his fiscal caution has rubbed off on me over our 22 years of marriage. I pray that over time I get myself back into the habits of watching my figure & regularly exercising ( "body stewardship," for the purpose of this article!) to the point that I start rubbing off on him in return in the name of improved health & increased longevity.
Beats thinking of stewardship as only the fiscal obligation to the church, doesn't it?
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