Breaking the Stewardship Mold
Have you noticed how we always tend to pigeonhole one another? Thinking like this is a good indication that we aren’t in conversation with God. If we have already decided what we are and are not meant to do, we aren’t likely to pray over it.
The View from the Back of the Line
Have you known that person? The one who leaves every person they encounter feeling a little more blessed for having met them? We wonder how they do it, how they have it in them. We’re a little envious, even if we don’t let ourselves acknowledge it.
Can You Walk the Walk?
Loving our neighbor, welcoming the stranger, feeding the poor — it all sounds fantastic, especially when we’re the ones saying it. But the doing — well, that’s a different story, isn’t it?
Choosing Deafness
I bet all of us parents who have sat through a hearing evaluation test with a preschooler — especially a particularly strong-willed one — have experienced a moment where we ask ourselves: I wonder if there’s something wrong with her hearing.
Give it All Back
Pop culture has given us a unique idea of the term justice. Justice is about taking. Taking what’s owed. Taking revenge. But when you remember the presence of an all-loving and all-merciful God, it turns our gunslinging sense of justice on its head.
Submission as Stewardship
God has granted us that freedom with the salvation He offers. We are no longer the slaves of sin. Now He asks us to be subordinate to one another, in the name of Christ. That’s the real challenge of stewardship, isn’t it? Subordination.
WWMD?
WWJD bracelets were all the rage about 25 years ago in Christian circles. I’ve always wondered if a WWMD bracelet might not make just as much sense, and maybe more. What Would Mary Do? I would argue that Mary was the most exemplary steward who ever lived.
What’s your Hearth Cake?
What sustains your ability to be a good disciple, a good steward? What inspires you to give more freely, to love more abundantly? Whatever it is, that’s your hearth cake. The Angel of the Lord is nudging you in your sleep.
Practicing Graciousness in the Desert
Looking back over my journey of parenthood, I know there were days when I traveled the extra mile for my children. And then, it happened: the attitude. The request for the smallest thing from one of them is met with disdain or bewilderment.
It’s All in the Basket
When I challenge myself to give thanks for things that bother me, I envision Christ giving thanks over those insufficient loaves. How many of us would see that paltry little basket and kick a rock in frustration because we can’t feed all our people?
The Steward’s Work is Never Done
We are all shepherds of a kind, called to tend our own sheep: our families, our parishes, our communities. But it’s exhausting. Don’t we all sometimes just want to take a break from being a steward? So, what if the flock scatters just a little?
What we carry from town to town
In my experience, there are two kinds of people: the folks who kick off their shoes the second they walk through the door, and the ones who don’t. People can feel strongly about this on both sides. This same theory can also apply to our spiritual lives.