Stewardship of the Self

On two different occasions I have heard the fans and friends of Buckminster Fuller tell the story of his life. At his darkest hour, he went to Lake Michigan in the middle of the night with the intention of making the world a better place by leaving it. Rather than killing himself at this moment of choice, he was seized by an idea, by a possible truth - that he did not own himself. He did not have the right to destroy his body and talent, his history and his future. He considered the possibility that he was not the owner of the being he called I, but its steward. This concept became a cornerstone for the remainder of his life.

What if you don’t own yourself? What if you don’t belong to you? Most of us can agree that we morally can’t own another person; we ethically don’t own our children. Many of us question whether it is ethical to “own” an animal or a piece of land if “ownership” means that our possession has no rights. Take one step further, just for this year, and see whether the idea that you are a Steward of Yourself impacts your relationship to yourself.

To own: to possess, to have and hold property. To have command of... To Steward: to be a guardian; a Steward is one who is employed to take care of...

Aside from the obvious responsibility of being a guardian, a Steward is employed to do a job. What if taking care of yourself - your body, soul, talent, time, and energy was your job? There is an implication that you are accountable to some higher being for this charge.

This stone, like the three that have preceded it, is not one that I ask you to accept as a truth but to work with as a possible foundation for building a different structure. Does it change your relationship to yourself, to time, to your other choices?

How would your life change if, you did not own yourself but were the steward of your body, talent, time and soul? As steward, what changes would you make? What priorities would shift? If... If you were the Steward of Yourself...

Taking this idea back to community... Your personality, philosophy, spiritual reality, and individual expression are uniquely yours - but we, as a group agree to build our relationships as people who are empowered and act in accordance with our own choices, who think well of ourselves and of each other, and who have the job of taking care of ourselves.