Dr. Susan Bettis, Director of Training & Clinical Services, who oversees our counseling program, offers reflections and mental health tips for this month and beyond.

Stewardship / (noun): the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.

Over time, the definition of some words has shifted in meaning. The words “steward” and “stewardship” are good examples. Taken from the idea that a steward was the keeper of a large estate, these words are now most associated with fostering engagement and philanthropic investment in nonprofit organizations.

If you broaden the definition of stewardship, you are given an amazing word that is most clearly identified with a gift, something being entrusted to us, something that must be nurtured. Stewardship is not the same as love; it is more. And it is not implemented towards something casually found or given but something so important that we must take care of the bond we have with the gift. It is about the relationship between you and the entity you are to steward. It can be between you and a child, a friend, a spouse, a pet, a church, or an organization. Or for that matter, with a tree, a bird, or a mountain off in the distance.

Stewarding Relationships

In his play After the Fall, Arthur Miller stated that if you let someone love you, you become responsible for them. I can hear the modern relationship gurus yelling “Boundaries! Boundaries!” as well they might. But Miller’s concept is not without merit. All close relationships are entrusted to our care. I will care not just for my partner but also the relationship with my partner, and my family and all the folks who show up at William Temple House to give counseling, sustenance, and spiritual hope to folks for whom life isn’t going so well. I will steward the connection. When done on a volitional and ongoing basis with an investment in keeping relationships healthy, much pain can be avoided. To take care of, to guard, is of the highest good. And yes, it includes places like William Temple House that effectively steward the community through the work of keeping clients fed, functioning, spiritually connected, and operating at their highest level. We are stewards, sometimes directly, sometime indirectly, of you and your world, too.

Stewardship Challenge

So here is my challenge for this month:

  • Pick out one person who makes you laugh, holds your hand, or hugs you better than anyone, and find a way to steward, feed, and protect that relationship.
  • Pick out one person that the road has become rough with and take them out for coffee. Ask them, “How are you doing, really doing?” and then care about their answer.
  • Steward William Temple House in any way you can. It will make our community stronger.