Okay, so today I’m standing on the soapbox — well, at my age I will sit on my soapbox if you don’t mind. And, I will begin by saying that I am thankful for money. That’s right! I am thankful for money!
By now most of the readers know that I am not affiliated with any organized religion or church. As the kids say, “Been there. Done that.” Before anyone looks for a reason to be offended, I’m not saying that I do not believe in a Supreme Essence — some say God, others say Allah, still others say Atman, and the list is almost endless. So, for those who are looking for a reason to get their knickers in a twist, you are going to have to look elsewhere today.
However, just because I feel a little mischievous today and I know there is someone somewhere who is going to bring up a scripture to prove that money is bad. (There is always somebody who can find a verse.) I’m going to go first. The quote is from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. I prefer the King James Version for this quote, but the first Bible I picked up this morning is not that one.
Ecclesiastes 10:19 Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let me get to the real point. I am thankful for money. For those who understand money, you understand that no one is thankful for a hundred dollar bill. The possessor of that bill is thankful for what the $100 will do for him or her or others, or will get for him or her. A piece of paper, especially one that small that already has print all over it is of little value to the owner until he finds a way to use it. Of course, we have all seen bills with notes written all over them, but generally speaking a blank notepad serves a better purpose for that.
For some reason many people believe that living a life of poverty and giving everything away is the path to heaven — or wherever they believe the soul will go following the human transition. Maybe that worked for Mother Teresa. Maybe it works for others. But, let’s be realistic. Most of us still want to live a life outside the monastery or the nunnery. Most of us have families, mortgages, and other basic needs that will not be provided by the church or a charitable organization. That takes money. After all, money is the basic tool of trade these days.
Thanks to my friend Daniel of The Gratitude Watch, I have spent some time thinking about this. So, I’m going to share a little story I began to share with Daniel.
Several years ago I became interested in Haiti. It really wasn’t my idea. A friend had lived in Haiti for a couple of years and was wanting to return. He had little money, but he felt that he needed to be there to help as he could. Well, it seems that few people in Haiti have money. Most of the country lives in poverty. They do what they can, but with no financial resources they are limited to what they can do with their hands to improve their lives. There is always a food shortage. I have seen people cooking over charcoal made from the trees they cut. And, let’s face it. When a person buys a dead chicken to cook, walks two days up a mountain to his home in the tropical heat, the bird isn’t fit for cooking. But, they cook it anyway. They cook it and cook it and cook it until it about the same texture as the charcoal and doesn’t taste much better. That’s poverty.
My friend who wanted to return to Haiti had no money. While he is quite brilliant, and very handy, without money what could he really contribute? He could build houses. But, where would he get the materials? I hope you get the idea. Now, if he had some money he could buy some materials to build a house.
But, for some reason my friend had the misconception that money was a bad thing. He wanted to live a selfless life. And, to be honest, his intentions were quite noble — unrealistic, perhaps — but noble. I have to say that I have been in that same mindset — back in my hippie days, living in a commune with other poor people. It was good for a while. We all worked together, grew our food, and so forth. But, all we were doing was surviving. We were so poor that we could barely get by. There was no way we could help others.
On the other hand, we can look at people like Bill and Melinda Gates. Of course, I should say we can look at them. There are no other people quite like them, I suppose. I can remember a time when Bill Gates was asked about charitable contributions, etc., back when he only had a few billion dollars. He had not become the philanthropist he is today. He was criticized. But, in his own time Mr. Gates has shown the true meaning of giving. Look at the good the Gates Foundation is doing for the world today.
Chances are none of us will ever voluntarily decide to live a life of poverty. And, chances are none of us will ever walk in Bill Gates’ shoes — or carry his wallet. But, somewhere in the middle is a happy medium for most of us. That said, there is nothing wrong with working to earn money. There is nothing wrong with amassing wealth. And, there is nothing wrong with living a comfortable and secure life.
No matter how impoverished I may become, my poverty will not make another person living in poverty any less poor. No matter how depressed I become, it will not make any depressed person less depressed. No matter how fat I get, it will not make any other fat person less fat. You see, by taking on the qualities or conditions we wish to remedy, we do no good. We cannot transfer poverty from one person onto ourselves. We cannot take on depression so another will not become depressed. We cannot eat another person skinny.
Money is not bad. Greed is bad. So, for all those people who think that earning a good living and making a good wage, even amassing wealth, for one’s effort is the path to hell or wherever the soul goes during the transition, I will repeat that money is not bad. Money is a good thing. Money can do good things.
In our little neighborhood, few are what is considered rich. Most all of us are comfortable. As my mother used to say, we do not have all the luxuries in life, but we do have the comforts. Because we have worked hard and earned good wages over the years, today we able to buy the seeds and the tools to plant the community garden. We are able to buy the materials for the kids to make solar panels for the out buildings. Without the funds to get started we would still be sitting around wishing we could do something. And, wishing won’t make it so.
So, today I am thankful for that income tax refund that finally arrived.
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