my line for the day is "Have a gun; in fact I got two. that's okay, man, 'cause I love God." it's from a pearl jam song. yay pearl jam. hi there bradford! i'm glad the business world has you in it. personally, i've never gotten used to the whole quest for moolah thing. even the phrase "for the good of the company" seems strange, though i find myself saying it now. i wonder if this ties into the wealth thing at all. i guess it does. your questions are good. and in the context of "stewardship" have different flavors than "consumership". if the concept of the steward is one that is watching over something for another, then it implies: (1) the importance of the thing/person/land being watched and (2) the impermanent status of the steward (i.e., if the steward has no lasting ownership then they are not the 'owners' of the thing.) it reminds me of the parable of the talents. if you're given anything, it is yours to possess--perhaps the way a curator "possesses" an artifact for a museum. In a museum, a thing is only valuable if it's on display for others to enjoy, respect, and learn from. at least, these are my limited thoughts. in other news, i've been now on this Thomas Kelly kick for two days. I've not been really "successful" in keeping God as an undercurrent in all I do. I find myself only being able to be conscious of the Lord for a couple minutes before i lose it. tops, i can go through this five or six times before i just totally forget until i'm in bed thinking "dang it!" anyway...for what it's worth.