Since the country is so tender To touch, her being so slender Take, like this sleek and seeing ball But a prick will make no eye at all, Where we, even where we mean To mend her we end her, When we hew or delve: Aftercomers cannot guess the beauty seen.
The Good Steward
To sum up, the concept of good stewardship requires us to have a sense of responsibility and duty towards all of God's creation. It requires us to empower, enable and to enrich the human personality and the communities in which we live through subsidiarity and decentralisation of power and wealth. Good stewardship requires us to reconcile our needs with the needs of all; to wisely share the fruits of creation with others; to seek co-existence and justice; to exalt the gentler and less aggressive side of human nature; to wonder at the beauty of our endowment. The issue of good stewardship should be addressed at global and continental level, by nations, communities, families and individual people. The good steward will recognise that relentless consumerism and obsessive materialism is generated by greed and is incompatible with sustaining life; that 'my choice' is always made at someone else's expense; that we are trustees for future generations, and not sole heirs and owners. The good steward knows that each person is made in the image of his Maker and is both precious and accountable to Him. The good steward will exist in fraternity, solidarity and communion with his Creator, alongside the good and beautiful things which the Creator has given us.
Conclusion