A man lugged a heavy suitcase up to St. Peter and the pearly gates. St. Peter greeted him by name and said, "We've been expecting you! Welcome!" Then he noticed the suitcase the man was struggling to carry, and added, "We have everything you need here. You didn't need to pack anything." 

The man replied, "I got special permission from the bishop. I made large gifts to build his cathedral so that I could receive a dispensation from one rule." 

"What rule is that?" St. Peter asked. 

"The rule that says, 'You can't take it with you."" he answered. "I received a special exemption to bring one carry on suitcase with me."

"I'll have to talk with the head office about that bishop, but I'll allow you to bring one carry on with you. Did he specify a weight limit?" St. Peter asked. 

"No!" the man replied with a broad smile." The man walked through the pearly gates dragging his suitcase behind him with great effort.  

"I hope you don't mind if I ask you what you would choose to bring with you to paradise?"

"Not at all!" the man bent down to unzip his case. It was filled with shiny bars of gold.

St. Peter looked inside and said, "You brought pavement?!"

Stewardship is the recognition that as Christians we bring a different frame of value to creation. What we have is not ours. It does not belong to us. We cannot keep it, cannot take it with us. We are not owners we are stewards. We have not been given title to creation; we have been entrusted with it as a gift. One way of looking at being a steward is as a trustee. God has entrusted us with everything we have. It is all gift. We are not entitled to any of it. We only have it for this day. The steward, the trustee, asks, "How will I use it today?"   Read more