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"Simplicity deals with the ownership of property, stewardship with the use of it. Simplicity tells us to ask for no more than we need: stewardship reminds us that we need less if we take care of what we have. Simplicity insists that we get rid of encumbrances: stewardship helps us decide what are encumbrances and what are not. It does this in a very straightforward way. If a possession, a or task, is an encumbrance, using it properly rapidly becomes much more trouble than it is worth, and the possession falls into disrepair, or the task remains constantly undone. It is this point that stewardship says: 'Wait a minute - we have too much to care of here,' and it becomes time, in the good Quaker phrase, to lay something down." Bill Ashworth, Oregon, 1986 in Daily Readings from Quaker Writings Ancient & Modern, edited and published by Linda Hill Renfer.
This message touches a deep place for me, leading to my own queries:
What is stewardship of space?
of beauty?
of clutter?
of stuff?
of recyclables?
of clothes not worn?
of books spilling out of bookcases?
of supplies kept just in case?
of time?
of energy?
of friendship?
of family?
of health?
of resources?
What do you put in your list concerning your practice of stewardship?
Am I living simply that others may simply live?
And then I return to the practice of blessing: what encumbrances get in the way of blessing?
