So tell me… are you in favor of it or against it? I know, that was facetious. But how do you stand on the issue of money. Because of the universal attributed value given, we all are subject to it. Either we have some, a bit more, a whole lot more, not enough, or somewhere on the continuum of none to obscenely wealthy. I suspect most people are on the ‘I wish I had more’ position on the continuum. Sometimes we even know what we’d do with more… but… are we in need territory or want? And how do we define our own financial status – more specifically, how much weight to we place on the issue of money and its impact on our well-being?
Money is a controller. And it does effect our sense of who we are, our status. This is especially true when we don’t have any. I have this strange affliction that when I don’t have discretionary funds I find all sorts of things to purchase. But… when I do have it, I just tuck it away for future need. Do we ever control money? I know we all are aware of the scripture that talks about the love of money being the root of all evil. It is. Point being that it is the ‘of’ that controls, not the money. Our perspective on money and how we steward it is a very real issue.
When I was growing up I received a weekly allowance. Dad would dole out the allowance on Friday night and we were expected to make certain it lasted till the next Friday. But there was a caveat on the allowance. We had to tithe a tenth for church and a tenth for savings, but that left four fifths available for whatever we wanted. Personally I tended to be a saver so I rarely spent all of my four fifths but saved it for something later that might cost more than what I had available. After a certain age, we also spent our money on gifts for others, like at Christmas, unless it was a big gift and then it became a shared gift giving. This training really has always guided me… even when I didn’t follow it scrupulously.
I find that I’ve always enjoyed the “Hello Dolly” comment about money – that it was like manure waiting to be spread around to help things grow (paraphrased). I’m a saver… not a hoarder. I truly enjoyed it when I did have funds to gift someone, typically without their realizing or expecting it. I’m not setting myself up as a paragon of virtue and unabashedly altruistic – it just was my standard. Like so many issues in life, it’s all about attitude – ours. How we view and act on the money we have – how we steward it is the real issue.
how ’bout you?
