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​Stewardship

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Welcome back to One Marine’s perspective on how to play the game of life. We all have to play, we’re all on the same team, we play by God’s rules, and we win with teamwork. 

Consider these words by Jane Goodall, an English primatologist and anthropologist, who is considered a hero by many because of the work she has done as a steward of wildlife in the jungles of Asia and Africa for 25 years. 

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.” 

Jane Goodall believes that we all make an impact on our world every single day through our actions, whether that impact is intended or not, and One Marine can find no fault with that belief.

Listen to Story 1.​

A little whimsical perhaps, but the message is quite clear. We need to pay more attention to the stewardship of our planet or we might end up playing our game of life on the moon. So, let’s talk about stewardship.

Stewardship is a belief that we humans are responsible for the world, and should take care and look after it. Stewardship, in this sense, is to ensure the well-being and perpetuation of God's creation. By maintaining a way of life that is conducive to the optimal performance of earth's systems, we can faithfully steward creation (our current playing field) and preserve its resources for future generations to enjoy. 

In order to become good stewards of our team’s playing field, the earth, we have to accept Responsibility for the impact of our actions on our playing field, Educate ourselves about how we can become good stewards of our earth’s resources, and then take the necessary Action to accomplish that goal.

                                                Responsibility

Consider this quote by Stephen Jay Gould, who  was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation (Which had a large overlap with One Marine’s generation). 

“We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are.”  

Now there is a belief with which One Marine can agree. We have 100% responsibility for what we do with our lives. As Jane Goodall says, it is up to us to decide what kind of a difference we want to make.

We create our lives and are not just reacting to them. Taking responsibility allows us to choose how we respond to life’s challenges. We move into the driver seat of life’s journeys.

Listen to Story 2.

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One Marine suspects that he is not the only one who can’t go far from his residence without seeing the landscape littered with trash. He has even been directly behind another car on many occasions and witnessed trash being indiscriminately thrown from the car window. Not a pretty sight. 

Let’s move on to: 

​                                                        Educate

Listen to what Stu Irwin has to say about education. Stuart Erwin was an American actor, often working as a voice over in radio and animation. He said, 

“I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.” 

We need to get excited about the stewardship of our planet, our playing field.  We need to get passionate, develop some enthusiasm for educating ourselves about stewardship, and then, perhaps, volunteer to educate others with what we have learned.

As an example: Several years ago One Marine and his wife volunteered for a local weatherization coalition, which was formed as a free resource to educate local citizens about strategies they could employ to cut down on their energy and water consumption. One Marine and his wife went through the training program and then visited the homes of interested folks and performed audits and submitted reports outlining the simple actions that could be taken to conserve energy and water. Many people, including One Marine, did not realize the simple things they could do to cut down their waste of energy with no adverse effect on their lifestyles.

So, volunteering is a great way to educate ourselves on environmental issues. We could try volunteering for a community garden, a cleanup crew, or even joining national service organizations like AmeriCorps. Working with others toward environmentally sound goals makes a real and lasting difference in a community. 

Education lessens the challenges we will face in life. The more knowledge we gain the more opportunities will open up to allow us to achieve better possibilities in career and personal growth.

Listen to Story 3.

Now that we recognize our responsibility and realize the importance of educating ourselves, let’s take some:

                                                      Action

As Benjamin Franklin said, we should not confuse motion with action. We’re talking here about taking goal-oriented action to better our environment. We’ve talked about goals in a previous discussion and stressed the importance of accepting our responsibility and educating ourselves so far in this discussion. Now it is time to put the knowledge we've gained to good use.

So, what are specific things we can do to stop the wanton destruction of our environment? That’s a question that is better answered by each individual based on personal circumstances. As an example, here is a sample of some of the actions One Marine is taking to provide a more positive impact on the environment.

He has become a WFPB advocate and eats no animal products. Not only is the consumption of animal products harmful to human health, but the production process is harmful to the health of the environment. He has downsized his living quarters to a small super-insulated concrete dome. He has constructed a dome greenhouse and with his wife raises fruit and vegetables for their consumption. He is installing a solar energy system that will provide not only for his family’s own needs but enough extra to turn back to the electric company for others to use. He has planted shade, fruit, and nut trees throughout his 2-acre property. And many smaller actions such as: reducing the temperature on the water heater, replacing all light bulbs with low energy LED bulbs,  and installing dimmers where practicable.

Listen to Story 4.

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In summary, let it be said that, from One Marine’s perspective, each and every one of us has Responsibility for the stewardship of the earth, our playing field for the game of life. We should all Educate ourselves regarding how we personally can make a positive difference in preserving that playing field for our progeny. And we should all take Action to implement those strategies we have learned from that self-education.

So, One Marine poses these questions: Are we good stewards or bad stewards? And do we realize the power we have to do good - or harm - to our environment? If we are not presently doing all that we can to curtail the wanton destruction of our environment, when are we going to start? 

Listen to ​Story 5.

As Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “The hungry world cannot be fed until and unless the growth of its resources and the growth of its population come into balance. Each man and woman and each nation must make decisions of conscience and policy in the face of this great problem.”

We'll close again with more of One Marine’s favorite quotes: 

“The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” Gaylord Nelson 

“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Henry David Thoreau 

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” Franklin D. Roosevelt 

“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” Barbara Ward 

“The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” Ernest Hemingway 

“The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.” Pope John Paul II 

“The care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.” Wendell Berry 

“The surplus wealth we have gained to some extent at least belongs to our fellow beings; we are only the temporary custodians of our fortunes, and let us be careful that no just complaint can be made against our stewardship.” Jacob Schiff

“How far must suffering and misery go before we see that even in the day of vast cities and powerful machines, the good earth is our mother and that if we destroy her, we destroy ourselves?” Paul Sears