Recently I found myself in a hotel room flipping channels late at night. I'd grown tired of flipping around and paused briefly to watch a preacher from Orlando launch into his sermon. I admit I hovered on the channel with suspicion to see what the charlatan was up to, to see what he was trying to sell little old ladies. I lingered. I watched as he spoke about stewardship, about human being's responsibility to take care of the earth and everything God owned. He said that God knew each of the little sparrows and insects and made sure they were provided for. He said God gave us life and our bodies to live out our brief existences. He noted how we commonly refer to our possessions- my car, my house, my watch, even our most valuable assets- my life, my body, my kids, my wife, but we in actuality own nothing. We are loaned everything. He said ask anybody in the ICU or nursing home what they really have. Indeed. He said we take good care of our bodies, or we try to anyway. We take care of our prized possessions. He said we must take our stewardship responsibilities more seriously because we aren't taking good care of the earth and we will be held accountable.

I sat with his sermon. I thought about it as I prepared for bed and knew it to be the truth.