Probing Peace Again
Soul Snack 163/14 ... Little peace drips from the bonds of riches.
Wealth is by no means sinful, it is not wrong.
Prosperity is a gift from a father to a son, an inheritance that survives to unknown generations.
Riches are as morally neutral as milk is white.
But the threat of money is in its unusual ability to control the owner, or even become the promoter of evil. It is the thief of peace.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10)
Financial greed snaps golden handcuffs upon wrists in life-claiming danger. Avarice imprisons a man in a cell of his own design. This power claims both Christians and pagans alike; it offers no exemptions nor discriminates.
Surely a proud covetousness is at the heart of greed; the spurious notion that I can secure my life and future best, through my accumulations.
The desert fathers, those now ancient hermits that inhabited the caves of Egypt and Spain from the 4th century AD wisely taught:
Covetousness is a sin of the soul and not of the body.
Or from another unnamed desert father:
Own nothing which it would grieve you to give to another, nothing that would lead you to transgress the commandment of the Lord - 'Give to him who asketh you'.
Peace is not found in the holding of pennies and possessions, for these lead to distress; will they rust, will they be stolen, will they break or be lost?
BUT ...
Peace resides in the ability to cast pennies away.
Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. (Proverbs 15:16)
Today's Soul Snippet:
"Discretion is the final glory of a perfect character." ~anon
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LIVING BEST WITH SUFFERING Seminar 4 ~ August 31st
ENJOY - Probing Peace