Security deposits

Whether you are a renter or a landord you know the meaning of “security deposit”. The security deposit helps you cover any damages, excessive wear and tear, unpaid rent or other unmet conditions of the lease.

As a landlord, you entrust your property to the care of a tenant, and many things can and do go wrong. So you ask for a deposit against those things. As a renter, you know that you must take care of the apartment if you want your deposit back.

A security deposit is especially important for summer rentals at the beach. Many groups, young and not so young, seem to think that since it is not theirs they have little responsibility for undue wear and tear cause by heavy partying.

What if God required a security deposit from all of us who live in God’s house? Would that make us think twice about how we would treat God’s property?

Our myopic view of God’s house

The earth is our toy!

We can do whatever we want to the earth because it will always be there. We have no sense of the value of the gift. The following story is a wonderful metaphor for our lack of appreciation

“A meteorite in Michigan worth $100,000 has been holding open a door at a Michigan farm for the past 30 years. According to Central Michigan University, the 22-pound meteorite rock was brought in to be examined by an unnamed man who said he had been using it as a doorstop for several decades. (Time)

We have no sense of the value of God’s house.

I can lose my hands and still live. I can lose my legs and still live. I can lose my eyes and still live. . . But if I lose the air I die. If I lose the sun I die. If I lose the earth I die. If I lose the water I die. If I lose the plants and animals I die. All of these things are more a part of me, more essential to my every breath, than is my so-called body. What is my real body?

Indigenous Americans: Spirituality and Ecos

The wisdom of indigenous people

To many of the more materialistic peoples of the world, indigenous people have often seemed “backward” or “simple.” They have seemed ripe for conquest or conversion, or both. The fact is, however, that the kind of ethical living characteristic of so many indigenous groups, with its respect for other life forms and its desire for wholeness of intellect, may be the best answer to the problems faced by all peoples today.

An overriding characteristic of Native North American religion is that of gratitude, a feeling of overwhelming love and thankfulness for the gifts of the Creator.

Native people were often baffled by the European tendency to refer to nature as crude, primitive, wild, rude, untamed, and savage.

Laudato Si (“Praise be to you!)

• Do I have a sense of gratefulness that I can live in God’s House?
• Would I get my security deposit back if God required one?

The reflection was inspired by Indigenous Americans: Spirituality and Ecos