Converting to dollars.

 

Converting to dollars.

A young man wanted to follow a certain Rabbi from Nazareth. First, he needed to bury his father. Another did the same, but needed to do something with his fields. Another had a similar story. They were all told by the Rabbi to rid themselves of the money concerns and just come and they all couldn’t. Poor fishermen and a few women joined.

In my life, I faced similar situations a few times. I thought that working in recreation, a job designed to help people mentally and physically, I could safely follow my Christian morality and make a living, but I couldn’t. My boss during my annual performance review gently told me that I must consider what is a moral decision and what is a business decision. At work, they paid me with money funnelled from a political party and I had to make business decisions.

Later in my career, I found myself involved in committees that dealt with the gentrification of parts of the City. Our mission was to clean up areas and get rid of humans considered undesirable. It was tied to property values and corporate investments. Definitely a business decision. When you have a clear mission, you do the job and we all did.

Where did the undesirables go? They were chased around, always landing in a new older neighbourhood where crime soon soared and they moved to another place. To fix the problem permanently would have taken a lot more than what we could do. We would have had to change what society values.

A few people in every group have no pride and are willing to live on charity or beg for sustenance. Some fake it and enrich themselves with donations. Most are keen to be useful. Given an opportunity, most people will work, learn, and seek recognition. Olympic athletes will try to be the best even if the crowd is not there to cheer.  

Humans excel by working together. We admire stars, heroes, or even beautiful people, but our biggest achievements result from many people working together. For that, we need to know the right stories.

We have been telling ourselves stories that are the opposite of what the Nazarene told us. Even the churches do. Governments are completely sold on the idea that material success is supreme. We could classify all the countries that used to colonize parts of the world as antichristian, even those who didn’t send crusaders to exterminate the opposing religions. I am not surprised that so many folks left the churches and don’t have faith in governments.

People measure their personal success by how much money they have or control. They make sure that money is in short supply so they alone will have most, or inflation takes over and the economy crashes. The competition is fierce and the victims are many.

A good example of how the system works we will see in the immediate future. The country of Lebanon, which used to be known as the jewel of the Middle East, is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Bank owners and corporate high rollers drained its resources and millions are facing starvation.

Another sign of bad stories are the rich or famous men. Their nature drives them to try their best to impregnate as many females as they can and leave them to raise the young on their own. There are stories about a past president of the USA spreading his oats and it does not deter his so-called Christian followers at all. People are mesmerized by his success instead.

We name ourselves “Christian” countries but we are only two hundred years removed from selling and buying human beings. In our countries, we still practice trafficking girls for sex. All our actions are assigned a monetary value and we gear all our efforts in life towards increasing and hoarding more value.

People consider time that is not spent to produce wealth or its equivalent as a wasted life. You have to make something, socially advance yourself or travel, or you haven’t lived. If you go walking you brag about the trails you walked or the mountains you climbed, or you don’t do it.

I propose a new story told long ago. In that story, people measure success by loving and making life more enjoyable for all living things, including the planet we inhabit. A planet that provides us with our existence and gives life to all the creatures upon it, free of charge. A place in the vast universe that can be the heaven people die to be in, in exchange for minimal well-directed effort.

I don’t think that we must give all our possessions and experiences away, only need to work together for reducing suffering and helping those less capable. When we don’t compete to dominate and hoard, we have enough leftovers to feed all who are created.

If I will have time to reflect on my life before I die, what will I think about? Will I say I produced something in great quantities? Will I brag about the size of my home? Will I show a map of the places I travelled to? Will I tell those around me how much money I amassed by denying others basic comforts?

I think I will remember tender moments. My first interaction with my wife, the first time I held my child and attending her/his graduation, or being around a dying friend providing comfort. I will think about speaking up against the kids bullying a poor child in school or picking up a stray cat feeding it. I will remember the smell of the pines in the early morning when the fog blurs the mountains.

Life is not about the zeros in our bank accounts or the bling surrounding us, it is about the simple things that we exchange with the rest of God’s creation. If we must fight, let it be a fight for justice, not for power and money. That is when He blesses our sword.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.