In today’s world that is driven by materialism, it is hard to separate the honest pursuit of wealth from pure greed for money. Greed, according to Encarta, is “an overwhelming desire to have more of something such as money than is actually needed.” But how much does one really need and when does it ever stop – this desire. Desire for anything and an overwhelming desire is in fact the driver of human ambition. It is healthy to want something so bad, if for the fact that it will help one get to their desired goal. So when is the red line between the greed and the honest pursuit? Money can buy things and make life easier, but it can’t buy everything. That however should not be an excuse for not desiring to accumulate wealth. Money is an important accessory to life – among other things. The trap is when our blind pursuit for money clouds our thinking to make us believe when we have money, we can buy peace, a beautiful or handsome partner and for some, even a passport to heaven by being generous to the church or whoever may lay claim to such rights or abilities back here on earth. The truth is money can give you that perception of being ‘the everything buyer,’ but beneath that veneer, we know that anyone who marries for money, is in for a very tough ride. Examples of this are abound. According to My Sense and Sensibility, a blog, “Although money is but the token representation that we use in buying and selling, it is a necessity. Obviously, it is our means for fending our needs, getting what we want. But, again, when we value money more than our family, friends, dignity, and spirituality we become enslaved by it. Instead of letting it serves us for our purpose, money becomes our god. This is evil, per se.” There is nothing wrong with having money because it is a personal choice to work hard enough to make a lot of money to have extra things. But greed almost wrecked a financial Armageddon on the world in the past two years. Religion does not help matters either. Traditionally, we were told that wealth is bad and causes much of the world’s suffering, but now a new wave of faiths openly promotes the message that wealth is good and God wants you to prosper and be rich, even going to the extent of beseeching the faithful to give to God and receive exact multiples of their ‘offering’! Although, I would not like to go with any of the two notions strictly, I have always believed that God helps those who help themselves. One has to be careful when to draw that line – how much is enough? The third richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, who is worth forty seven billion US dollars, gave away more than eighty percent of that to charity. He has clearly drawn that line. What about you? I wish you a reflective Sunday. kelviod@yahoo.com
