Have we ever thought of ourselves as stewards? Most probably not. Simply because most of us are not managing or superintending someone else’ affairs. This may be true, but we as human beings carry a heavy management responsibility, that no other creature ever can! When God created our beautiful Mother Earth, its natural cycles and beauty were ensured. Given charge of the Garden of Eden, Adam the first human being was instructed to care for that corner of creation-all the flora and fauna. Could there have been a higher privilege than to receive these gifts from an all-wise Creator? But was he faithful as the first steward, a representative of God, governing his creation with wisdom, love, understanding, justice and generosity? He disobeyed and sin entered the human heart, destroying the relationship between God, human beings and nature, leading to disastrous consequences. He no longer remained as the caretaker! A grieving God solemnly decreed that the earth would bring forth ‘thorns and thistles.’ The steward is now outside his workplace! The story unfolds clearly in the Holy Bible. But wait! It doesn’t end there. This is the book of Hope glimmering amidst gross hopelessness. The act and fact of creation denotes the dignity, worth and value given to Mankind. The same seemed to have been tragically lost. It’ll be good to remember that God ‘chose’ to create the universe and to put man there as His masterpiece. Despite grievous sins, He kept forgiving and caring and fulfilling His promise, “While the earth remains, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer and day and night shall not cease.” (as in Genesis 8:22). He’s still watching how well we’re faring in our stewardship. The Master Craftsman is now a loving Master. As countless generations have come and gone since Adam, the charge is still open. God’s not firing us because we’re careless. He’s not sending angels to care for creatures who share the planet with us neither is He punishing those who never gave a thought to ‘co-existence of all created beings.’ He’s granting chance after chance to us to fulfill our responsibility as faithful stewards. God was careful that he designed the earth in an orderly and beautiful manner. But we have been careless, despising His handiwork and letting it decay. Instead of appreciating the beauty of nature and thanking the Creator for its serenity and contribution to our lives, we’ve neglected our duty to ‘maintain’ this free gift. Does a dangerous level of smog somewhere alarm us? It doesn’t, because our skies are clear. Did the bush fires in Australia make us lose our sleep? They didn’t, because it happened in some distant place! Does a high mortality rate in some bird species cause us to explore? It doesn’t, because some bird watchers and nature lovers can do it better! Does the news of a hungry big cat devouring goats and being killed disturb us? It doesn’t because we never cared to restore its stolen natural habitat back! We can’t redeem the entire universe, but can’t we transform our own little world? We may not understand the complexity of nature; the ‘How’ of it. But we do understand the ‘Why’ of it. It’s created not only to denote God’s authority over humanity, but His deep love for all. He doesn’t force us to plant a tree to get oxygen. He gives it free. ‘We’ are guilty of carelessly increasing the levels of poisonous gases in the atmosphere. He doesn’t make us manufacture water or grow flowers and fruits on trees. He gives it free. And we cut down trees for our comfort, endangering the lives of our generations. God’s creative work was confirmed by His words, “It is good.” But His command to ‘Multiply and replenish the earth, subdue it and have dominion’ (as in Genesis 1:28) has been badly misinterpreted. The most tragic decision that we as unfaithful stewards can take today, is to exploit nature for ‘our’ good, without any regard for the rest of creation. But we can still rise from Despair to Hope and wake others up before a serious calamity strikes. Shall we become a voice for the voiceless and take a stand against rising deforestation, pollution of land, water and air, global warming and exploitation and extinction of animals? It’ll be wise to keep this sobering thought in mind always, that if God would choose to return and roam in this earth today, would He still say, “It is good?”