Quick: what do you think of when you hear the word “resources”?

I was at a “Stewardship and Spirituality” conference on Saturday, with my pastor and a few other lay people from my church. It was a conference on how we as a church should be better stewards of what God has entrusted us with - and how we can live an alternative lifestyle that is counter to our culture’s dominant materialism and consumerism. After starting the day with a couple of windy speeches against materialism and consumerism, and exhortations to embrace stewardship as a joyful practice instead of a dutiful obligation, we spread out into various workshops.

One of the workshops I attended was about a “holistic approach” to stewardship and spirituality - integrating spiritual practices with stewardship. During the session, the speaker wrote out a few definitions: quotations from various authors on what “spirituality” meant and what “stewardship” meant. She quoted one author (I cannot remember who) who defined spirituality as: “the increasing sway and vitality of God in my life.”

She then quoted Dallas Willard in defining “stewardship” as: “the getting, having, controlling, and using of resources.”

This is where my soul recoiled.

RESOURCES???

Now, to be fair, the speaker pointed out that this definition went well beyond most people’s common understanding of “stewardship” as “giving money.” The speaker asked us to reflect on how Dallas Willard has extended “stewardship” to include not only how we give money, but also how we GET that money in the first place - how might we earn our living more responsibly and ethically? - and how we nurture that resource.

She also asked us to reflect on how Dallas Willard has extended the definition of “stewardship” to include not just money, but any “resource.” So, she asked us to list various resources, and people started voicing: “time”, “talents”, “services”, etc.

I sat there stewing and brewing… RESOURCES??? Thinking of “stewardship” and “spirituality” in terms of “getting, having, controlling, and using resources” strikes me as being an inherently materialistic and consumeristic view of the spiritual life.

My problem with thinking of stewardship in terms of “resources” is that it totally dehumanizes people and relationships. How are we to be good stewards of our relationships? Given Willard’s definition, we would have to start thinking about that kind of stewardship as: “getting, having, controlling, and using” our friends and family.

How are we to challenge our culture to break free of materialism and consumerism if our primary language is in terms of the material consumption of resources? Might there be a different way to think of life than in terms of how we use resources?

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A few weeks ago I performed a story at church, in collaboration with my pastor, about the apostle Paul being shipwrecked on an island. My pastor, the incomparable Reverend Todd (he hates being called that, so here ya go Todd), is a lover of improv theatre, and we share a common bond when it comes to trying out “different” storytelling techniques that engage and involve the audience.

So, when Todd asked me to perform the story as part of his sermon (about 20 minutes before the sermon) I eagerly took on the role, even bringing in my packed suitcase and backpack to illustrate Paul on a journey. The journey was symbolized by the congregation - by me walking through the entire congregation, row by row, through each row, shaking each person’s hand. Todd distributed index cards ahead of time to selected congregants, each index card summarizing some random calamity that would befall me when I met them.

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So, Alexis and I were in the shuttle bus returning us to our car in the airport parking lot. As the bus made its rounds of the surrounding lots, dropping off other passengers, something interesting happened. At one point a lady was scanning the lot anxiously for her car, and for a while it looked like she had forgotten where she parked. When she finally found it and was getting off the bus, she said something along the lines of: “I’m glad I remembered where I parked, thank gosh!”

Wait a minute… thank gosh?!

Wow… if gosh helps me find my car in an ocean of cars, I’m going to start thanking gosh myself!

I’ve heard of this gosh before - people swear by gosh all the time, and they are often well-mannered and polite people. This gosh must be nice, to have such a nice following.

I’ve also heard that gosh has the power to darn! People often invoke the power of gosh when in sticky situations, and I find it appealing how easy it is for them: they simply (and politely) say, “gosh, darn it!”

Maybe today I’ll ask gosh to darn my socks.

Oh my gosh… I’m simply at a loss for words for how much I love my tame gosh!

And why should it stop with me? Why should I keep the knowledge of gosh to myself? If I have such a personal relationship with gosh that I can thank gosh in public, that I can ask gosh to darn my socks in public, that I can claim fervently that gosh is MY GOSH in public, then I really should tell other people about my gosh, by gosh!

So, gosh bless you! May the power of gosh always be with you, and may gosh always darn your socks for you.

But please don’t take my gosh’s name in vain. Otherwise you will offend me.

Today we start a discussion series on “stories of a reckless God,” where we become familiar with the Bible as a collection of stories of messy people interacting with an equally messy God.

Well, that was the plan anyway - today we woke up to 8 inches of snow and more falling steadily! So, we postponed the grand start of the group until NEXT Saturday…

We were supposed to meet at a local pizza place - Kiro’s Pizza, the best pizza in Belchertown! I will still go there - it has been a while since I talked with Alex, who owns the place, and his brother Hany. They have been looking forward to the discussion group being at their place so that they could participate in community - running a small pizza place in a small town takes a lot of work on their part, they work 16 hour days 7 days a week.

In the meantime, here are a couple of outlines that I wrote up for the discussion group:

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So, on my last night in Fort McMurray on Thursday, I decided I would try and see the Northern Lights! Based on polar activity predictions, the tips on best viewing times suggested I try anytime after midnight, into the wee hours of the morning. On that note, on Thursday night after class I went to bed early, set my alarm for 11.30 pm, and set out from my hotel at midnight.

My plan was to drive north past the oil fields as far as the road would go, and then continue further on the “winter road,” which is basically an ice road that only exists during the winter. During the summer it becomes a marshy swamp dotted with rivers and lakes, so the only time vehicular traffic goes north is in the winter. There is more info on the winter road here and here.

However, Fort McMurray is the last town on Highway 63. The next “hamlet” is Fort Chipewyan, about 200 miles north, and only accessible by road in the winter on the above-mentioned ice road.

In fact, immediately after the bridge that brings you out of Fort McMurray headed north, you encounter this sign:

Of course, to me, that is an invitation! So, here goes…

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