I read part of Henry David Thoreau’s “Life on Walden Pond” when I was in high school. One of the things that has always stayed with me from that is his reflection about an axe a neighbor loaned him.

He wrote, “I returned it sharper than I borrowed it.”

I think that’s a mighty fine approach to borrowed tools, to owned property, to work situations, to family life, to participation in church and other organizations, and in general, our walk through this world.

If we all purposed ourselves to leaving things better than we found them, I believe we’d see a lot of improvement in just about every aspect of our lives.

How ’bout we start today?