JUST this week, a colleague was called away on urgent business, and I found myself unexpectedly minding her house – and a small puppy called Paddington.
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Paddington is a gorgeous toy poodle, and we get on famously. I haven’t chased a squeaky plastic hamburger around a house for years. I’m sure it’s good for me. And a hot water bottle has nothing on a warm puppy for sheer comfort value on a raw Bathurst evening.
But Paddington isn’t my dog. And these last few days, I’ve been reminded what a big responsibility it is to “mind” something that is precious to someone else.
What if Paddington eats those Jiffy Firelighters? What if he takes on that alsatian? What if my shutting the bedroom door scars him for life?
I’m told it’s the same with equipment. Apparently, there’s a big difference between “Don’t drop that, it’s rented” and “Don’t drop that – it’s borrowed”.
Perhaps I’m worrying too much. But perhaps that’s what should happen when we’ve been entrusted with the care of something that doesn’t belong to us. Perhaps we should feel responsible. Perhaps we should be more “mindful” of the things we’ve been asked to “mind”.
The ancient creation stories in the Bible say that God has entrusted human beings to tend and care for the world He created. The world belongs to God and is precious to God. And God has given us the task of looking after it.
“The Lord God put the human being in the garden of Eden to tend it and keep it,” says the Book of Genesis. Of course, it’s partly about self-preservation, but if the Bible is right, it’s also a sacred trust.
I wonder if we are always as mindful as we should be of our responsibility for this home we’ve been asked to “mind”.
And then there are the people. When God asked Cain where his brother Abel was, Cain famously grouched: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Actually, pretty much.
The Bible says that human lives are infinitely valuable to God – and that God not only cares for us, but has entrusted us to one another’s care. God’s people have always been called to do justice; to tend to the poor and vulnerable; to love the neighbour and the alien.
Jesus of Nazareth showed exactly what that looked like: hugging the leper; feeding the hungry; healing the sick; loving the world to death – and beyond. And “love one another”, he said, “as I have loved you”.
I wonder if we are always as mindful as we should be of our responsibility for the others we’ve been asked to “mind”. I’ll be praying for us all, as I take Paddington for a walk.
