To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same. -Bhagavad Gita
This from Sri Easwaran: ****Gold is not valuable in itself. It is valuable because there
is so little of it. If sand were found only in small quantities, people would treasure it in their safe-deposit boxes; they would buy sand certificates, on important occasions they would exchange a little sand, and they would have the expression "as good as sand."
Things cannot give us status. We give status to things. When Tom gets into his BMW, he is giving status to the car. The car is not giving him status. The car says, "I feel good because Tom is at the wheel." What really gives value to anything is its usefulness in serving others. Our body draws its value from its usefulness in serving others, and our life draws its value, not from the money we make, or the prizes we win, or the power we wield over others, but from the service we give every day to add a little bit more to the happiness of our family and our community. ****
I search my heart, I scour my mind. I discover: I do not really believe this. I do not act 'as if' this is true. The post modern church worships status symbols, the non spiritual, the material-the really nice buildings, the family life centers, the fancy cars, the boats, the big houses, the expensive vacations, the right schools, the expensive camps.
Our prayer is not Thy Kingdom come--it is My Kingdom come. Our values are focused on money and prestige and status. Sad, but true.
The Golden Rule is sometimes quoted as "he who has the gold, makes the rules"; when in fact it is, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
I am thinking on this--what is it that I truly value? Kingdom of God things?
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him..."
But do I love not the world?
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