Money

Unless a person is "off the grid," we need money for basic survival in our world, and even those off the grid need money from time to time.  What then is the proper spiritual relationship with money?

Different religious traditions and mythology teach a variety of lessons about money from the lowest level of hell being reserved for those who are constantly in the chase for more money to the New Age treatment of God as what one speaker called, "the great carhop in the sky" bringing us anything and everything we could possibly desire. 

I have not committed exhaustive research to the topic. Yet, I have pondered the question of the proper spiritual relationship with money periodically for most of my life. I recently recalled to a friend junior high school assignment to write an essay, saying what we would do if we won $1 million.  (Back then $1 million was serious money.) 

When we read our essays, my classmates had bought all manner of "stuff." I thought I'd gotten the assignment wrong because I had given my million to a poor tribe of Native Americans for education, healthcare, and basic life needs.  With the wisdom of a few years, I actually think I was the one who got it right. I said to my friend that I really regretted that I hadn't been more financially successful because I would have really enjoyed doing good with my money.

Since it came out in 1991, and I discovered it shortly thereafter, Money and the Meaning of Life (Jacob Needleman) has been among my favorite books.  I wouldn't even venture a guess at how many times I've read it.  As I understand it, Professor Needleman's thesis is that the reason to have money is to use it to help us learn.   

In my own The Game Called Life, Lizzie is confronted with the information that the game she has been playing -- to have a nice house, take nice vacations, and fund a solid retirement account -- is the wrong one.  She is told that The Game Called Life is about being of service, growing spiritually, and developing our gifts and talents completely. 

Yet my own financial planner advised me that the results of using money for learning and service are that I will probably never be able to retire. She sent me to find federal employment because it was secure and would provide me some income in my old age.  That's not working out so well for me.

My furloughed status and dwindling bank account have brought me to the money question again.  What is the proper spiritual relationship to money?  Should I consider my use of my savings to write, meditate, and get exercise during the furlough to be a higher use of my money than saving it for my old age?  Does earning money that is killing me spiritually mean that is a bad source? What am I to learning from feeling more alive than I did two weeks ago. 

For many years, Needleman's learning theory, laced with my own The Game Called Life guidance, became a tenet in my approach to spending.  I never questioned that if I would be learning something, especially if I could use it to help others, that I should do it.  That is at least until recent years. As resources became tighter, I found myself passing on learning opportunities.

I've been cleaning off my desk, and there is an advertisement that has been in the stack. It describes a year-long learning opportunity that I know would grow me personally and spiritually, and I am quite certain that it would further develop my gifts and increase my ability to serve.  Using the Needleman/Gilley guidelines for spiritual use of money, signing up should be a no-brainer. But, the tuition and travel expenses are a significant expenditure for my income.

My commitment to deal with everything on my desk, rather than shuffling the ad into a stack which will grow on my desk again, has me soul-searching about the proper spiritual use of money....yet again.  What I know in my heart is that enrolling in the class is the right thing to do.  I am taking a deep breath and remembering what I wrote about the River of Peace yesterday.  Maybe therein lies the answer to the question about the proper spiritual relationship with money.  Will the learning bring me peace, love, and joy?  Will I let my fears about money take me from that river?