Money, the root of…?

The economy in our nation has struggled, crawled on bloody knees, clawed itself forward with torn fingernails, tried to rise and fallen harshly into tatters.  We have watched it, felt it, and other nations have also watched and felt.  The crumbling of the U.S. economy has sent shockwaves of despair around the world.  In such an environment, it is expected that people evaluate, or re-evaluate, their feelings about money.  Many views are shifting, and doing so dramatically enough to even make the news as families find out that they do not need money to enjoy time together, yet again.

My views on money have not changed with the tides of the economic crisis.  The reality is, I see no crisis.  It is no more an economic crisis than winter is a weather crisis.  Yes, it’s inconvenient.  Yes, there are hazards.  Yes, there are those who will not sail through it unscathed.  I do not mean to make light of those who have lost or suffered in this economy.  I am among them, myself.

Yet I think that what this nation still misses is that the axiom handed down to us by our Puritan founders which says, “Money is the root of all evil,” is not true!  I think it also misses that the newer axiom, spawned like the tantrum of a child in their attempts to rebel and define themselves, which says, “Money is the source of happiness,” is equally false.  Money is neither the root of evil, nor the source of happiness.  Ascribing such extreme value statements to any inanimate item is rather like writing an essay and declaring “all” of anything is such and such way.  Sweeping generalizations are flawed, in writing, debate, and especially in thought processes.  The reason they are flawed is that they do not allow for exception, but they also do not allow for review of a idea, or of the process that brought about the idea.  Often I have found that when someone holds an extreme view it is because they are either angry, afraid or because they hold the view someone told them to hold.

To think from a place of anger or fear is human.  Being able to think from those places has allowed humanity to survive.  To think from that place and never look at the thoughts it has generated after the immediate need to think from such a place has passed is a sign of an unthinking mind.  To follow what those we trust or admire have said is also human.  Often we are told to use the examples of those who have had success.  What we do not seem to also understand is that someone who has had success may not always have the right of a thing.

So, we find ourselves in a financial nightmare, individually, and as a nation.  More and more people begin to decry materialism and declare again that money is the root of all evil.  I declare that money is not the problem.  It never has been and it never will be.  Money is also not the source of happiness, and if it is the only source of happiness in someone’s life, then that person has greater issues within themselves than money can repair.

Money is a tool, nothing more.  If you desire great material wealth, then perhaps money will help you gain it, as it allows purchase of large items in this world.  If you desire nothing but a simple life, money can also enable this.  It is of no more value than a hammer, and like a hammer, if misused, you may hurt yourself or someone else with it.

I have several in my family who declare money is the root of all evil.  Oddly enough, these are the successful people in the family.  I have not asked, as they would not answer, but I wonder if they regret the years they lost to the acquisition of their wealth.  Was it worth the years of not knowing children as they grew?  Was it worth the child who attempted suicide because she thought her father did not love her?  Was it worth the son who left home and never returned, parting with the statement that he was tired of waiting for his mother to have time for him instead of her bank account?  They live quite comfortably, these family members.  They have large houses with beautiful yards.  Their children were given the best of everything and their retirements are secure.  Yet, they live with families which are broken.

At the other end of the spectrum are family members who state that money is the root of all evil, and who have no money.  They work through their retirement years.  They’ve worked all their lives and seen little gain, if any.  They also have broken families, and they have no means to care for themselves if they fall ill. 

Two sides in the same family, both declaring money to be the source of their troubles, but for reasons that are polar opposites.  It makes a decent argument about money being the root of all evil, if all you look at is the surface.

What happened in both instances is that the people sought money, and little more.  There was no joy in life, or in the living of life.  Every ounce of energy they possessed was focused on gaining money.  They ignored the needs of their families, and themselves.  They ignored the greater world beyond their immediate need for money. 

Money is, in this world, a necessity.  Utility companies will not provide services for barter.  Some foods can be gained through barter, if you know people who have gardens and you have something they want and are willing to trade for, but many items cannot be gained this way.  Clothing, even if you make your own, must still be purchased with money. 

Money is not, however, a “necessary evil.”  To take this view puts a weight of drudgery on anyone seeking to earn money.  That weight breeds resentment, against companies who have stated their terms and requirements clearly, against family members who require money for food, housing, or medical expenses, and so on.  Resentment of this sort warps and crushes the soul.  It then manifests in depression, anger, and resentment of those around us.  It breeds hatred of those who have more money, and egotistical stances against those who have less.  Ultimately, it will turn to weighing self-worth by how much money, or how many items purchased with money, are held.

This is the source of the evil which is so often ascribed to money.  Not money itself, but the views held because of the resentment we cling to.  If we step back for a moment and weigh the things in life which are truly pleasurable, things which truly add value to ourselves and our lives, we find that money is not truly among those things.  Even those who assert that money enables them to have the things which they value will find that money itself is not the thing which has value, but rather the enjoyment or personal growth they gain from what is purchased with money.

As an example, if someone seeks money because they want to use it to further their education, it is not money which brings the enhancement, but rather the education itself.  If someone seeks money because they wish to purchase a certain car, it is not the money that brings enjoyment, but rather the owning and use of the car they desired.  If someone seeks money because they want to send their children to private schools, it is again not money, but the knowing that they have provided the best opportunity to their children which brings a sense of pleasure and achievement.

We become too attached to money, though.  We complain about spending it, even when purchasing the things we so desire.  We hoard it and are loath to use it, even for necessities.  We receive our bills in the mail and open them with a sense of dread, even when we know that there are sufficient funds to cover the expenses.  This is self-defeating as money is, again, merely a tool.  We have earned for the purpose of using it, whether to make purchases, pay bills, or to invest for our futures.  To invest so much of our energy into the earning of money and then resist or regret the use of it is counter-intuitive.  The sense of dread regarding spending, or regarding the use of the funds we have earned is entirely self-defeating and robs us of the pleasure of being able to use those funds.  This is a fear born of scarcity teaching.

We are taught that money will leave us, like a callous lover who woos and then abandons us just as we trust them.  Yet money has no mind or thought, no internal intent.  Money is not capable of this manner of behavior.  Like any material item however, money can be misused and “lost.”  If treated as one would treat an expensive piece of equipment, with respect for the fact that anything which is misused will not last long, money will last, and often lasts beyond the bounds of those who declare that the amount is not sufficient.

Churches teach that if we give, then our generosity is rewarded, in this world, by the return of our funds seven and ten fold.  This teaching is so complete that I know many who will claim that when they cease to give money to their churches, they fall on financial difficulty.  Yet, having observed these same people, I recognize that often the giving begins or is at the very least more diligently done, when financial hardships have fallen.  If one gives to a church while seeking work, when there is no income, then certainly, it could seem that giving to the church causes financial improvement after a new source of income is found.  The reality is, many churches are increasingly predatory upon their memberships, some even requiring authorization for automatic bank drafts to pay “tithes” to the church.  The assumption is that these tithes are used to pay for church expenses and for outreach to the less fortunate.  The reality is that the pastors make more in their yearly salary than many of their flock, and live in better homes, driving better cars, while those who have tithed so faithfully are struggling to keep their homes, or simply to put food on the tables.  We have returned to the age of the pharisee, and the pharisees of today broadcast their message and their requirement for more income on national television and privately owned stations.

The Bible does teach about money, and it teaches a great deal.  It teaches to be a steward, and to manage your funds wisely, to invest in ventures which cause your money to grow.  It also, though this message is not taught often, teaches that those who speak the messages of the Bible are not to have an income, but to rely on donations from their flock.  Not tithes, but donations.  Tithes made to the temple in ancient Jerusalem were not used to provide wealth for the priests, but were to be used to care for orphans and widows.  Even at the founding of the priesthood, the priests were authorized to eat a portion of the offerings that were brought.  Again, no tithe supported them.  Jesus told his disciples to go into the world as they were, without even a change of clothing, and to teach.  He certainly did not tell them to book first class passage and broadcast their message from the comfort of their home town once a week while living in luxury. 

Today, churches teach that money is evil and that the congregants must let go of their greedy ways and give money to the church, but the reality is, it is the church which has become greedy and predatory, and is loathe to use those funds to truly aid the members of its congregation.  I have wondered many times why it is that these churches, with so much money coming in, did not step in early in the US housing crisis to provide relief to the families within their communities.

I understand, even as I write this, that some may become angry with me for stating things as I have.  I understand that.  I have been in a place where these words would have angered me.  I do not ask anyone to question their faith.  I do however refuse to sit silently and not ask questions that require thought.  If you are reading this and find yourself ready to respond to my commentary in anger, whether it seems righteous or not, I ask only that you step aside from your anger first, and think.  Be very honest with yourself.  What is the real source of that anger?  Are you certain that the thoughts you have, in defense of a church you feel loved by, truly justified?  Is your church among the few that truly reach out to their congregation and the community around it, or are you among those who have been blinded by the lights of the cameras as they film your pastor in his tailored suit while you wonder what is left to feed your family that day?

I am not, for the record, a woman of great wealth.  I have struggled, I have been unemployed for a long period of time and I understand the despair that comes from not having enough money to purchase food, clothing, or even housing.  I understand the tendency to cling to money and to hoard it when the drought breaks, for fear of finding a similar situation thrust upon me again and the determination to never allow it again.

I have come through that place of thinking to a place where I recognize that it is not money which is the source of the trouble, but the manner in which it is viewed.  I recognize that it was not the loss of income that caused me to struggle, but my despair over it.  It was not the loss of freedom to go forth and spend which caused grief and strain, but rather the now strange concept that money was required to find enjoyment in life.

I challenge those who read this, in whatever financial situation, to step aside from your bank accounts and your finances for a single day.  Plan a day where you will be away from your home, and find a way to enjoy yourself.  Go out, take a sack lunch and be a tourist in your own area.  Take along a close friend or your family, or even a pet if you happen to find yourself without human company.  More shocking still, go alone, by choice.  Walk the streets and truly view the area in which you live.  If you have a lake nearby, go and spend some time walking near it.  Fish, if you like, and think on the fact that in fishing, you could provide a healthy meal to your families.  Take a walk in the forest and find out how many trees you can identify, or how few.  Find the holes in your life that are screaming for fulfillment, places where money has no place in which to insert itself.  If you usually drive, leave the car behind.  Walk, ride a bike or take a bus.  The point is to insert yourself fully into your world.  Until you do, you will not find a life beyond the seeking of money.  Once you do, you will find yourself learning more about how much money really means to you, and how much of life is missed when it means too much.