Land Stewardship and Care for the Vulnerable

A friend of mine once remarked that how we care for the land often mirrors how we care for those dependent on it, especially women and children. Is our attitude one of entitlement and privilege? Do we see the land as serving us and our interests? Or is it one of stewardship and responsibility? Do we see the potential for life and goodness bound up in both?... In God’s economy, inheritance is not about possession; it is about stewardship. Whatever we receive, we receive in trust, borrowing it from future generations. And so rather than preserving the ego of one man or expanding his wealth, the goal of the levirate marriage was to preserve a family and the land on which they depended. Even if it meant doing so at great personal cost.