Earth: The Retail Store

How do you treat the earth?  As a consumer who goes into a store to buy what you want?  The consumer does not worry about resupplying the shelves or racks.  That is someone else's job.  What if the shelves are empty.  You don't go there anymore.  Go somewhere that has what you want.  This is how many people treat the earth.  They are consumers.  They consume the earth according to their wants, with not much thought of how to replenish what is taken.  But other people treat the earth as if they are stewards.  Stewards have a sense of ownership, unlike the shoppers or consumers.  Stewards care for the earth of which they see themselves as a part.  They think about replenishing what is taken, or how to take less and preserve the limits of the earth.  Stewards know that if they do not take care of this earth, then someday, both stewards and consumers will be no more.