“Money, it’s a crime. Fair it, share it, but don’t take a slice of my pie…” -Pink Floyd “Money” from the album Dark Side of the Moon
The human race has a most peculiar relationship with money. Although we know it cannot buy happiness, we assume it will get us a few laughs along the way. Although we know it cannot sustain life in the same way that water and oxygen can, we need it to survive. Although we know it cannot bring us closer to God, we use it to do a lot of His work in the hope that He will reward us someday, which explains why, when I read today’s gospel, I felt it sent a mixed message.
Don’t get me wrong. I think it is nice to rely on God for all of your needs and to know what’s best for you, but so far…God hasn’t decided to cover my house payment. It’s very easy to say “God will provide” but until I see His W-2s, I am going to presume I only have his moral support. I realize we cannot serve two masters, but where am I supposed to live without money? What am I supposed to drive? How am I supposed to eat? No offense, but if I give up my career to spend my life on my knees, I’m going to be dead by the middle of next week!
It’s then that I realize, Jesus isn’t telling us to stop working or to give up our homes, food and utilities. In today’s gospel He talks about how God takes care of the birds and the flowers, but even then every living thing has a job to do. If you’ve ever watched a bird build a nest one twig at a time, then you know it must be exhausting, but when they move on, they leave it behind. They only forage for the food they need. They don’t stockpile a month’s worth of berries at a time and they don’t book their flight South through AAA. Still, they work hard…but that work is a means to an end. They know they can’t take it with them and so they don’t hang onto a lot of baggage. As a result, they are free.
Our free ride was up a long time ago (thank you, Adam and Eve) but that doesn’t mean we have to drive ourselves half crazy feeding an addiction that will never fulfill us. When we concern ourselves with having a big house, saving for retirement, going on vacation, or having the latest and greatest…whatever, we pull focus from our real purpose, which is to serve God only to find ourselves serving those things that tie us to the Earth.
It’s so strange. Throughout my life, I have always heard that money – or the love of it – is the “root of all evil” and yet we will work ourselves into an early grave trying to get as much of it as we possibly can. We will tie ourselves in knots when we don’t have enough of it and we will do the oddest things for it. Like any good junkie we tell ourselves we have everything under control, but we don’t. It is one of the most dysfunctional relationships we have because a little only makes us want more and a fortune is never enough. Money buys so little, costs so much and is a budget that will never be balanced. The more debts we incur, the more goals we have, the more we become enslaved to the grind and the more we resent the drug of our choice as it pulls us away from all that really matters. But we rarely change the way we do things.
In the end, although we have to work throughout our lives, we can’t take the fruits of our labor with us. We are to trust that if we live responsibly and within our means, our needs will be provided for and when the time comes, we can let go with gratitude and without regret. If we concern ourselves too much with our earthly possessions, we may find out that we will miss out on the real treasure, a treasure that goes beyond the latest iPad or a trip to Disney World. The treasure of meeting our maker and living out eternity in paradise.
Today’s Mass Readings: 2 CHR 24: 17-25; PS 89: 4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34; MT 6: 24-34
