Stewardship
Stewards are called from a wide range of spiritual traditions to undertake the task of preserving the past for the sake of the future. It's easy enough to preserve tangible things by separating them from every day life much in the way that a painting can be preserved by locking it away in a museum, but the preservation of living things isn't achieved so easily since life can only be preserved by living. For example, heirloom seeds can be saved for a few years, but every so often stored seeds must be planted and new seeds produced in order to maintain their viability.
A person embarks on the path of Stewardship when they recognize within themselves a need to take responsibility for the ongoing welfare of the world around them. Stewardship is not about seeking control or dominion; rather, it is about seeking an understanding of the natural environment and using that knowledge to facilitate positive outcomes.
Stewardship involves an ongoing search for truth; not "The Truth" ®, but rather a true understanding of how natural forces interact to create the world we experience. This is important because we can not facilitate a process which we don't understand. Today we have an unprecedented amount of knowledge as to how natural systems work, and consequently an unprecedented opportunity for stewardship.
The concept of Stewardship is integral to many religions. For example, a Christian basis for Stewardship is laid out in Matthew 25:14-30, while a Native American basis for Stewardship is expressed in the Great Law. Similarly, the Dalai Lama has described a Buddhist basis for Stewardship, and Islamic scholars assert that a pro-active Stewardship is essential to Islam.
The time when humankind had to strive against nature is past; today, we must work with nature in order to preserve its ability to sustain life. Up to now, we have lived off a vast inheritance of natural wealth, but the age of dominion is passing away; the old growth forests are gone, the great schools of cod are fished out, the aquafiers are being pumped dry. Soon, the only resources we will have will be the things we create and the things we recover. Either we will become good and faithful stewards of nature's bounty, or we will pay a heavy price.
Stewardship is not a theoretical exercise; rather, it is the ongoing, hands-on search for sustainability. Stewardship is founded on sustainable practice. Non-sustainable systems diminish our future, whereas sustainable practices enrich our future. It is the Steward's quest to search out sustainable practices, and to use the knowledge gleaned to create working models which function as an integrated part of nature.
Over time, nature produces sustainable systems. The question that will be answered in the coming years is whether humankind will play a positive role in that process, or become its victim.
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