No, not this kind of mine
Side note: Minecraft fascinates me for a lot of other reasons including the fact that the dude who created this game has enough cash in the bank to outbid Beyonce on a mansion. Turns out his digital mining operation is spitting out real-life gold. Good for you, friend!
No the "mine" I'm talking about is the pronoun, the possessive case of I used as a predicate adjective as in "the house on the left is mine" or a pronoun indicating that something belongs to me as in "the small black dog is mine."
Kids learn this word at a scary early age. The toy you gave them as a gift becomes "mine." The toy you want them to share is "MINE!" The toy you take away as they scream is "MIIIINE!"
As humans we have a strong, innate desire to possess stuff. All of human history is marked by battles over what is mine. Legal contracts are written to define what is mine and what becomes mine if this thing doesn't work out.
But there is another way to think of "mine". I learned this from a woman named Topper in a serendipitous encounter in a small, paper store in downtown Seattle called De Medici Ming.
Topper was working behind the counter of this lovely little shop and as she rang up my purchases, I asked her, "Do you own this shop?"
"I don't own it. I operate it. Owning is such a passive word. I actively love and care for this business."
And this is why you'll never hear me say that I own my business. There are legal documents with my name on them that define me as an owner of the business, but that day, in that tiny paper shop a switch flipped in my mind. I suddenly understood "ownership" to really mean "stewardship." "Mine" is not simply a possessive pronoun but an implied responsibility.
Biological parents have legal rights to their children, but that's not the same as a commitment to love, nurture and protect that child. Just ask every kid in the foster care system whose negligent parents are fighting to "get my kid back."
Being married and being someone's spouse isn't the same as being loved sacrificially by that someone.
The world is filled with people who are ready to take up arms and march in the streets to defend what is "mine". Wouldn't it be awesome if we had as much energy and zeal for investing in, caring for and nurturing whatever it is that we put after the word "my" or describe as "mine."
I believe that everything that is "mine" is really just on loan from the One to whom I truly belong. It's God's stuff, not mine. I've been entrusted with it and my heart's desire is that I would be found to be a worthy steward.
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