The moment you mention this word, Christians see all kinds of different meanings. Most notably since the 1950’s, the mention of Stewardship means, to put it crudely, “give us money”. It is a great pity that the word has been diminished in this way. It is a word that is rich in meaning and has great application in this modern world. Part of my life is working on various building sites (long story!). The one thing that concerns me is the way that we are creating high density housing in a country that is rich and beautiful and above all BIG. To see the demolition of homes and the creation of two new homes on the same block is the “norm” and recently, i.e. yesterday I was on a site where instead of two there were three being built. The surrounding homes were still there – back yards, front yards, lawns, gardens and space. The new homes – there is little point in having windows as there is no view anyway, except the fence, and in some cases, it is so narrow you cannot get a wheelbarrow in between the two homes. I have often, laughing, commented that it is possible to pass the shampoo from open house to the other whilst showering. Whilst it makes me smile, it also makes me sad. We are being bad stewards of our property and the land that God has given to us to care for. (Genesis 1:28). There is an element of greed that has created this anomaly – for local government – they see a doubling of rate income on the same property, for the owner- they see the possibility of two sales instead of one for the same land area, for the builders – it is two houses to build and the list goes on. But do we stop to count the cost and reflect on what we are doing to our environment. The diminishing of the ground that provides space to enjoy, the diminishing of garden, lawn – the living plants that filter our air, that cool our homes and areas in the hot summer, that give places for bees to pollinate and for the world to heal our surroundings. All is wiped away in the supply of homes that are not homes but houses, that have no garden or trees to replenish our world, that have no natural light causing us to be a prisoner to supplements to get our Vitamin D- it is a sad event. I had thought that it was a modern phenomenon until I was reminded of our early history in South Australia. The English novelist, Anthony Trollope (one of my favourites), visited South Australia in the 1870’s. It was he who made comment that Adelaide was a “city of churches”. However, what did take his attention was those who were taking up land for farming. He noticed that their farming practices were poor. What he took issue with, was that they were not manuring the land, or rotating cops, and “he knows nothing of the word fallow”, he makes no attempt to give back to the land, “anything in return from what he takes from it and consequently the land deteriorates from day to day. Unless he mends his ways, soon the land which he now ploughs will cease to give him the plenty he desires”. This was the 1870’s and we have not learnt nor heeded the message. If anything, we have become even worse stewards of the world that God has entrusted to us to care for and delight in. Let us reflect on what a rich word that stewardship is, let us reflect on how we are as stewards.