It is indeed true that the Bible says that it is the adoration of money, and not money itself, that is the root of all evil. And to the degree that this statement itself is also true, it would seem that merely earning money — or having money, or spending money, or even “prudently” saving money — would be acceptable practices to engage, if not even commendable ones.

Of course, the problem with this all-too-commonly-accepted philosophy is that it simply does not bear Good Fruit … never has; never will.

Indeed, the problem is that to earn money — or to have money, or to spend money, or even to save money — IS to adore money. For to earn money is to provide a service for a reward, which automatically transfers the focus of one’s efforts from Loving the other for whom a service is provided to loving the reward that comes thereafter. And to have money — or spend money or save money — is in essence to do the same; to shift one’s focus primarily towards one’s self (who has, and wants to keep on having) and away from all others (who might not themselves have, and who might thus take away what one has).

Indeed, even the most casual glance at human history shows that people shackled into money-based economies always lead lives filled with uncertainty & fear (those who have) or frustration & anger (those who do not). As such, the few who have end up hoarding more & more & more, while the many who do not end up owning less & less & less; a dynamic that inevitably leads to a social system soaked in violence — envy-based aggressions in our interpersonal interactions, desperation-based crimes in our neighborhoods, and greed-based wars in our world.

The time has come to put an end to this dynamic of cruelty & injustice, otherwise it will put an end to us. And rest assured that it will not be our politicians who will do so, for they — almost without exception, from local councilwoman to national Head of State — have already been bought by the very financial complex we would have them change.

No, my Friends, if you are ever to escape this prison of impoverishment, you will have to do so yourselves … Fortunately, there are already quite a few powerful paths to Financial Freedom already available to you. Consider the following facts:

*You are free to plant a garden and start growing your own food (and sharing the same with your neighbors) …

*You are free to radically minimize your possessions — recycling what is broken, giving away what is no longer used, and “time-sharing” what is used only every so often …

*You are free to radically minimize your expenses — cancelling club memberships, revoking Cable-TV contracts, turning off unused lights, biking to work (or using public transportation), eating more fresh fruit & vegetables, turning off your cell phone (gasp!), & buying only what you need instead of what you want …

*You are free to refuse to support the corrupt banking system in any way, shape or form any longer. You are free to remove most (if not all) of your money from your bank accounts, and to cut up most (if not all) of your credit cards …

*You are free to cancel all of your insurance policies; and to invest instead in the only “insurance” that will ever bring you any real solace in times of trial or tragedy — your Community of Friends …

*& you are free to make generosity your primary currency — by regularly giving away whatever you have but do not personally need, by bartering for or sharing items with your neighbors instead of purchasing them, and by giving others the most valuable gifts possible for us to give; gifts that have nothing at all to do with money: our Time, our Energy, our Attention & our Love.

I have personally lived almost completely money-free for the past decade of my life, and I have never been Happier or Healthier while doing so. And it is because I earnestly adore each & every one of you that it is my eighth “last wish” for you to experience even a portion of the Peace & Joy I have come to know as a result.

Amen … Let it be so.

“This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much most of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these solutions were largely concerned with caring for small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.” ~ Douglas Adams

 

Filed under: Eleven Last Wishes by Scaughdt