Ownership

Do you want to know a ridiculous concept? It's called "ownership". Okay, it's not ridiculous in and of itself. But it certainly is in the way that we use it.

Think about it. What is the concept of abortion all about? It's all about "the woman's body". That is, a woman "owns" her body and has the right to do with it as she pleases. Ownership. But ... where did that idea come from? I mean, who says she owns her body? Oh, sure, no one else owns it, but who says she does? She didn't buy it or earn it. She didn't build it (even if she's a body-builder). It was given to her. More to the point, it was loaned to her. And yet we have the audacity to say, "It's my body; I'll do with it as I please."

Or how about the notion of time. "It's your time, now." When did you get ownership of time? How did you earn that? How much did it cost? No, we don't acquire time. It is given to us. And it can be taken away without redress or recompense. We don't own time. And yet, that's how we think of it. We are offended when someone interrupts our "me time". We hesitate to surrender our "free time" to do other things we might not want to do. We seem to think we own our time when quite clearly we do not. Indeed, if you are a believer, there is little as ludicrous as to think that we do. I mean, if God walked into your bedroom and asked you to give Him a day in His service, would you balk? "Oh, I don't know. It's my time, you know." No, of course not. And, yet, we treat time as if it is our own and protest when it is "stolen".

Indeed, we have this whole ownership concept going about just about everything. My car, my wife, my children, my job, my God. Yes, even God. It is just so easy to think about Him as "my God" in the very same sense that we think of "my pizza". We have a slice of pizza. We have our very own God. He ought, if He is to be a good God, to do what we please. If He doesn't, we are displeased.

Now, I know, there is a place for ownership. There are things we earn and pay for and acquire. But, really, at the end of the day, what do we have that wasn't, ultimately, given to us by God? And, in the final analysis, what is there in all the universe about which God does not say "Mine!" and is absolutely correct? Sure, we may own some things in some sense, but it is my serious suspicion that this sense of ownership is most often taken too far and gets us in more trouble than we need. I mean, think about it. How much better off would we be if we understood all of what we have to be gifts, stewardships, on loan from God, and not our divine rights? How would we better manage our bodies, our time, our belongings, our relationships and all that is around us if we thought of it all as belonging to God rather than to us? I think this way of thinking would correct a lot of my shortcomings. How about you?