A Reflection on Stewardship as we come to In-Gathering
14 November 2016
Stewardship reflection: problem solving... communities... showing up... and opening up
by Jennifer W.
I was recently very moved by the words and sentiment of Galatians 6: verses 8-10.
8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. (New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible)
I found myself feeling a little braver, a little stronger, and a lot more energized to get out into my community and give a little more of myself for things that are important to me. (... and a little window to my soul -- the things that are most important to me tie directly into making this world a better place for the future generations...)
Looking back on my newest friendships in the community (through my neighborhood and through St. Julian's), they are making me feel more alive as we share struggles and give each other support and advice and sometimes even work together on solutions to problems. That element of problem solving is interesting to me. What is the characteristic that I embody that makes me want to solve problems for and with those I care about? In trying to think about this ... I typed some of the words on my mind into Google's search engine and found something that sums up where my heart is pulling me. Here's a quote from the website:
"Why 'community' problem-solving? Because democracy is much more than doing political advocacy, voting in free and competitive elections, enjoying and protecting our civil liberties, and so on. Democracy is about creating more and more capacity to do two things, fundamentally: effectively pick important problems that we want to work on and then work on them together in just and productive ways. For a growing variety of challenging issues, much of this problem-solving capacity, though not all, must be created and put in motion at the local or 'community' level."
(Xavier de Souza Briggs, http://web.mit.edu/cpsproject/home.html)
And it seems crystal clear now. Whenever I have the opportunity to show up for some problem solving in my community, contribute, participate and open up --- I want to step up and work for the good of all. I want to join with my community in multi-faceted camaraderie to pick important problems and work on them together in just and productive ways. I will be thankful for my many, many blessings and stay energized.... and I will pray ... Let me not grow weary in doing what is right.