All of us, on one level or another, are aware of our reeling economy. Even earlier than the recent headlines about government bailouts or black days on Wall Street, the average Jane/Joe citizen on the street knew we were in trouble!
- climbing fuel prices
- climbing food prices
- work/job layoffs or cut-backs in hours
- increasing interest rates on mortgages and credit cards
Numerous ideas are put forth as causative factors. Among these are the global economy, the addiction to oil and the civil tensions existing in most of the areas where oil exists, the Iraq conflict, the struggle against terrorists... and the list goes on.
Every so often someone mentions "greed" as being the significant cause! "Greed" that is present at every level within our economy.
* From my desire to drive an SUV to a company's desire to increase profits by moving jobs to a country where labor costs are less.
* From our desire to have a 'bigger' tv to a retailer's desire to cut costs thru poverty-level wages or restricted benefits.
* From our desires to keep 'stuff' [just look at the storage unit industry and its growth] to a parish's desire to remain a functioning (?) congregation [with dwindling memberships and rising maintenance costs].
While these are times of anxiety, I find it somewhat comforting to recall that we are not the first to face the consequences of "avarice/greed". The list of sins, considered deadly, can be traced back to the 4th century when monks identified areas that would impede one's spiritual development. It was Pope Gregory I who revised the list to what came to be known as the "Seven Deadly Sins" His order, replicated by Dante, has "avarice/greed" as number 3.
Such a history is comforting, at least in part, because it means there are numerous resources available for assistance in treating or handling or working with this sin!
Resources that help to honestly make the diagnosis that we are a greedy people:
1. When I have a working 32" tv set, do I really need a 42" HDTV?
2. When I have several functioning power saws, must I really buy one more for just one little job?
3. When my retirement income is greater than what some families of 4 make in a year, do I really need to go back to work for pay?
Resources that help to identify what actions to take to begin limiting the control of avarice/greed in my life:
a. Confession! I/we need to say it out loud - "I/we are a greedy people." so that we can begin being "delivered from evil". Only by individually and collectively so confessing will we be able to more successfully fight the many temptations besetting us daily to 'buy more'.
b. Charity! I/we need to move beyong gaining possessions to giving them away. Pick any room in your home or office. Make the commitment to give away 10% of everything in it. Even more - make the commitment to tithe!
c. Involvement! I/we need to become involved in our communities. The isolation helps to maintain our blindness to just how much we have. Helps to keep the focus on "poor me" rather than my neighbor and her & his needs.
Jesus tells us we cannot serve God and mammon! They are incompatible and irresolutely conflictual. That hurts to hear. It demands far more than what I/we are willing to give.
Facing the diagnosis honestly, however, helps me/us develop the awareness that is required from those who claim to wish to follow Jesus. My awareness will not keep me from sin. It will, however, bring me to acts of confession and repentance. Therein lies hope for a better world.
Regardless of how the November election ends, our society will not move beyond its "addiction to stuff" until all of us realize "stuff's" hold on us!
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