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Stewards of "Place"
Historically this concrete reality has taken the form of a hometown or region because these have carried strong meaning and association (such as a memory of Main Street or a shady maple they cherished as a family) enriching the lives of most ordinary people and helping them reach beyond themselves. A strong sense of “place” along with the boundaries that shape it and give it meaning also helps provide people—especially children—with an assurance that they will be protected and not abandoned. A society bent on exalting a borderless mentality that champions relentless movement and pioneering an ever-changing new frontier, faces the real dangers of spinning out of control. The sense of “place”—a safe haven so to speak—should ideally be created by parents who care and love their children. It is indisputable that children need a sense of place, a clearly defined personal haven of safety in order to grow and become more self-reliant. “Place” should be nurtured—not by jack-booted police enforcing stringent state laws—but by concerned parents who give their homes and their neighborhoods a feeling of permanence and indestructibility which every child (and inner child in each one of us!) needs. Without a well-defined sense of “place”, there can be no citizenship, no basis for common bonds to others, no willingness to give back to the public realm or be taxed, even lightly, for the welfare of others.
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Boundary and space, place and freedom—these things do not contradict each other but go hand in hand. People need to feel a bond to a concrete reality larger than self, a reality that gives meaning to their existence. They need to be stewards of concrete places in which they live because to lose that stewardship is to lose faith in oneself and society. 
