The words I wrote then seem pertinent today to the concept of stewardship. In those days I was writing about how integral the contribution of the farmer was to the success of the world we live in, and those words can be transferred now to all of our lives, how we all contribute to the world we live in. While I don’t exactly recall my words, the concept that I wrote about is still clear in my mind. I suggested that the farmer is one who knows, sows, and grows the crops needed to feed the world. I also suggested that the farmer is intricately linked to everything we do in society, like a spoke on a wheel, or a link in a chain, or a cog in a sprocket, that without this important part, the system breaks down.

We are many parts, but as the song says so well, we are all one body. We live in a materialistic society that emphasizes me rather than we, but our understanding of stewardship calls us all to understand more completely that we are a system linked together, all dependant upon the gifts of the others around us. We are like spokes, links, and cogs on a machine in that we all have different characteristics, but the same goal. How often do we stop to consider that what we do and how we do it affects many people other than ourselves? Do we emphasize me rather than we and focus only on what we believe is best for us rather than on what is best for others as well?

Each of us, like the farmer, is called to know, sow, and grow the seeds of our faith by living as Jesus did. The perspective we each bring to the stewardship journey is molded by many factors. Everything from our family experiences, our chosen career paths, where we live, who we are friends with, all have an influence on our lives as Christian stewards. For example, if we have grown up in a family that makes it a regular practice to pray together, both at home and at church, we are likely to continue that example of stewardship from one generation to the next. For farmers, the concept of stewardship may spring up in a discussion of conservation, providing careful stewardship of the land and resources at our disposal. For professionals such as accountants and investment brokers I would hope that we consider the concept of stewardship as it relates to socially responsible investing, not many of the practices that have become so prevalent in the newspaper reports of our day.

The attitude I have about stewardship, I would reason, is probably different from that of someone who lives in a large metropolitan city. Homelessness, pollution, and crowded streets take on a different meaning for those living in larger cities. In rural parts of our country we understand the plight of the farmer and the challenges of keeping the family farm differently than many of our fellow citizens living in the urban settings.

Stewardship is truly a way of life and a concept we have been called to embrace as Christian stewards. Perhaps there are times in our lives when we consider certain circumstances to be stewardship related, but fail to realize that everything we do has a connection to stewardship. Each of us has been blessed with different gifts and a different perspective from which we have come to understand stewardship. We are challenged to step beyond our present comfort level and to consider more fully how we can help this stewardship machine function more smoothly and efficiently.

Mr. Wallace told us that we were learning skills that would serve us in life, even if we weren’t farmers. I now believe all of the experiences in our lives can teach us valuable lessons, but we must be open to listening and not stubbornly reject the opportunities to grow in our understanding. May we all be blessed open minds and hearts to hear and act on what God is asking us to do in our daily lives as His Christian disciples.