STEWARDSHIP

This blog post is motivated by further reflections on the question of leadership raised in the parsha B’halotecha. 

We humans are stewards of the more than human world, for better or for worse (mostly for worse). I know the concept of stewardship gets a bad rap in some parts of the human community that is wildly concerned with the more than human world, but I think human stewardship is inevitable.  It’s inevitable because of the power we have over the more than human world. Our actions, because of our unique abilities as a species, will almost always shape and distort an ecosystem.  Ecosystems seek and will maintain balance in the absence of the kind of human activity of which we are now capable.  When we were hunter/gatherers, ecoystems stayed in balance, but no more.

The question isn’t to steward or not to steward, the question is how to steward, just as the question for Moses from the burning bush on wasn’t ever to lead the Hebrews or not, the question was how to lead them. For people who occupy formal leadership positions, such as executive directors, the question equally is not whether to lead or not, but how to lead. If you are a parent, the question isn’t whether to parent, (once you have kids for whom you accept responsibility) but how to parent.

So what questions should guide us in our stewardship role with the more than human world?  Here are some that occur to me.  Please add your questions in the comments.  How does my stewardship add to the biodiversity of the more than human world or subtract from it?  How do my lifestyle choices impact the rest of the more than human world?  How much am I able to live from relatively local resources, given that ecosystems are local phenomena?

Stewardship is inevitable.