Stewardship has many layers. The Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo, the 11th president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, began a recent talk by acknowledging some visible ones.
“I have faith that God will dry up the Rio Grande so that I may safely cross,” he said. He had been on the journey from Honduras to the U.S. for a month and a half when we met him in a migrant shelter in Arriaga, Mexico. His teenage son was traveling with him. He told us about the pressure on his son to join a gang and the lack of lawful means to support oneself in his nation. He talked of seeing people murdered in the street.
Our culture has convinced us that abundant life is about getting more — anything that’s newer and better — and getting it sooner. The urge to consume now and pay later is often fed by a fear of scarcity and the myth that if we don’t own the latest and greatest (insert item here) we will be left out of the crowd.
Does enough exist? Is there ever enough time, money, sleep, love, faith, justice, energy or peace for us? Why does it feel like we are always lacking in these and other areas of our lives?