Stewardship

Sometimes the work of humankind serves to enhance Creation.

 

   The Nature Conservancy held a forum for farmers -- it's first -- that attracted almost as many non-farmers as the intended audience. I'm not sure why, but I'm kinda glad. Because I think they learned something, maybe something unexpected. About stewardship.
    TNC scheduled several themed workshops on pollinators and agri-tourism, but the overarching theme of that snowy day in Augusta was stewardship. 
     Former NJ Ag Secretary Charles Kuperus set the tone during his opening remarks. A farmer, nurseryman and long-time resident of rural New Jersey, Kuperus spoke passionately about the land. 
      Each inidividual has his or her own motivation for taking care of the land. Kuperus says as a Christian he is obligated to care for God's Creation. That obligation is the basis of GreenFaith, an interdenominational group that provides assistance to houses of worship in energy efficiency, solar energy, wind power and other methods of saving the earth and, often, saving money.

I've heard it said if God created anything more beautiful than the horse, he kept it to Himself.

      I'm on the same page as Charlie Kuperus and GreenFaith. And, I don't get people who call themselves Christians who aren't concerned about Creation. The argument is, the Second Coming is coming, so who cares? That's ridiculous. If you are actually Christian, you believe you can't know when that will be and must keep watch. 
     Perhaps I'm wrong about this, but seems to me keeping watch also includes not poisoning what God created.  

This tree is on the Howell Living History Farm in Mercer County, NJ. 

   Understand, I'm not one of those people who believes because of the beauty of Creation. That strikes me as a little shallow. Yes, there's a lot of beauty but to base a faith on it, as a way of life, I don't think so. 
    I don't care if the people listening to Charlie talk about his faith were moved to become believers rights then and there. But I hope they accepted his sincerity and realized every steward of the earth has a valid reason for being that way. 

This beautiful German Shepherd, or Alsatian as most of the world would call him, is the product of quite a bit of human interference, but the basic "dog-ness" or "wolf-ness" of the canine is a gift of God. 

I just had to include this photo of these two creatures of Creation. Jeremiah kisses his friend the Blind Mare.