Stewards for All Time

It's a rare time that I will post anything that smacks of "preaching" on this website. But we had an interesting discussion in our family yesterday that I'd like to share with you. The conversation was about investing, and it centered around the question "what are the best ways to invest?" with options like stocks and mutual funds being explored. I wasn't really participating in the discussion, but rather going about my business, letting the discussion swirl around me but not impact me, as I'm sure we all do with talk that we can hear but that doesn't particularly interest us.

However, my ears perked up when I heard one of the group say "Mutual funds are probably the overall safest investment, but the most profitable investment right now would be oil." This was followed with a discussion about the economy, the scarcities of resources, and how one should always seek out the best profit they can. My response was immediate, measured, and - totally unlike me - completely calm. I said, clearly and matter-of-factly, "profit should never come at the expense of the planet and those who live upon her." By "those who live upon her" I mean humans of course, but also all creatures and indeed, all of consciousness.

My comment was met with the following statement "one should never invest from the heart or from the emotions". To which I replied, again calmly, clearly, and matter-of-factly, "profit should never come at the expense of the planet and those upon her." The conversation continued for a short while, using arguments for profit over welfare like "profit is always first and always has been, this is the society that we live in" and other similar "they do it so we need to do it" mentality. I added that the world is changing, that around the world people are beginning to impact and change the way that "society" acts. At that point some show or other came on TV that everyone wanted to watch, and the discussion was dropped.

What I did not say, that I wish I had said, is that we are not the owners of this planet. We are the stewards. We don't own the planet, therefore we don't get to behave as if we did. If you get right down to it, we don't own anything. Not the land we build our homes and businesses on, not the homes and businesses themselves. We don't even own our own bodies. We are consciousness incarnate in a sentient being called the human body and our relationship to that body and everything around us is as stewards.

As stewards of our world, it is up to us - each and every one of us - to live our lives as if it mattered what beliefs we hold, what words we speak, what decisions we make, what actions we take. While some of us accept the existence and assistance of benevolent ETs, no one, not even ETs is going to change this planet for us. We are. We are the top of the food chain, the conscious beings left in charge - the stewards. It is up to us, one individual at a time, one decision at a time, to take responsibility for our own behavior in regards to that responsibility. That doesn't take speeches or rallies or gatherings, although those can certainly help raise awareness. It takes each one of us as individuals living ours lives as if we personally were responsible for this planet and everything upon her. Because we are.

I will say it again, and again, and again if necessary, until the entire human race has awoken to the fact that profit can no longer be put before the welfare of the planet. We are her stewards, and as such it is our responsibility to bring about the changes that will take this world into our next evolutionary stage of development. No longer can we afford to follow the lead of those "in authority" whether that authority be government, business, schools, organizations, or even family, when we know clearly in our hearts that the decision(s) being made and/or the method(s) being employed go against the best interests of our planet, ourselves, and all manner of creature and beast.

It's time we each looked deeply into our hearts - and into our souls - for the image of what we want this world to be, and then live our lives continually gauging how things are going and how we are doing based on that image. Mass change doesn't happen over night, and it doesn't happen from a big rally. But it does happen, and It happens one individual at a time. It happens in each home, in each classroom, in each office, in each grocery store, each and every day, by the thoughts that we think, by the words that we speak and by the actions that we take.

Live as if the world already was exactly as you wish it to be .. and it will become that. One individual - one steward - at a time.