THINKING ANEW:THE expression "to take ownership" of something has over the years taken on an added meaning. It means that a person has become part of the decision-making process in an institution or organisation.
Most of us want to be involved in day-to-day decision making in our lives. Nobody likes to feel alienated within their society or organisation. The alienated person lives a lonely life, a life that can lead to great sadness, and in many cases causes terrible harm.
But "ownership" is never an absolute. Capitalism has placed great emphasis on the notion of ownership. Wall Street over the years has loudly preached that the markets are what counts - they are the final arbiters. The governments of the developed world have bowed at the shrine of capitalism, and the modern governmental mantra is "privatisation". If you have the money for something you can buy it and it is yours. It is the law of the survival of the fittest.
Or is it? The current financial tsunami has thrown all the wisdom of the financial gurus right up into the air and the world is agog with what is happening. Those who shouted from the rooftops that the markets will decide and that privatisation is the answer to all our woes are now going cap-in-hand to governments and asking them to protect them, to help them in their hour of need.
The US government has decided to bail out the banks. They are talking about "toxicity", a contagion in the system that will cost US citizens in the region of $700 billion. Suddenly terms such as "privatisation" and "ownership" have lost their "sound footing" and governments are forced to protect those who showed little social solidarity in the past from their folly, as well as trying to protect the rest of the population. We have dramatically learned that the slick phrase, "It's the economy, stupid", is not simply about greed and profit. What really matters is people's welfare.
We all know how laughable it is for the little child who feels excluded from the game to pick up the ball and run off home with it. That child is too young to realise how ridiculous his action is. But adults claim to know differently. Unfortunately we are also driven along by the strong prevailing winds and too often listen to those who seem to be the most powerful and the strongest.
The Judaic and Christian traditions say mankind is made in the image and likeness of God; hence the human person deserves the greatest of respect. In the past there was a tendency to stress the importance of mankind at the expense of the environment and the world about us. But today we realise clearly that all God's creation deserves respect and great care.
It belongs neither to us in the West nor our sisters and brothers in the East. It might be best to say it is on loan to us to care for it and protect it.
But because we take our surroundings and our environment for granted, it is easy to be lulled into a false state of security. We expect everything to be at our beck and call. We can take our prosperity for granted and unfortunately people too. We can easily lose sight of how fragile the world is. We forget we are mere stewards.
In tomorrow's Gospel (Matthew 21:33-43) we hear how the tenants of a vineyard threatened the master's servants. They came to believe it was their property and they could do what they liked. But eventually they got a rude awakening and had to realise they did not have absolute rights on the property.
Jesus tells his listeners: "I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." Surely the mantra is not "ownership", or unbridled capitalism. Instead it is a question of doing God's will on earth and all the time attempting to produce good fruit. And that always means being of service to our fellow human beings. MC