Love of Money

         But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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. (I Timothy 6:6-10)

           Today’s passage contains a favorite but misquoted verse. People think it says “the love of money is the root of all evil.”  They quickly move from there to the conclusion that rich people are evil since they “must” love money. The problem, of course, is that all evil is not the result of money. Sometimes, evil comes about as the result of the “love” of power, of another person, of a philosophy, ideal, nation, group, self… In short, evil is the result of the love of the wrong things, or of anything in the wrong way – even God. In Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis suggests that even those who claim to not want much, just that the things they do want be “just so,” are included here.

          What this passage is saying is that desire is a trap. Those who are not careful can end up with trouble. Quite simply, what we desire can become our god.

            The other word that I need to address is “contentment.” It means to be filled with satisfaction or happiness. I’m going to shorten that to say it means being full. Sometimes, I think I have contentment more than I realize. Other times, I think that I am more often either “hungry” for something or stuffed full to overflowing and therefore overwhelmed. This weekend if more of an overwhelmed weekend. I’m writing this on Friday because Saturday when I’d normally be writing it, I’ll be outside trying to sell boxes and boxes of stuff that either belonged to the person who lived here before me or my stuff because I’m keeping hers instead. I have writing project that has to be done in the next five days. I’m overwhelmed.

           At the same time, as I sit here, thinking about things I’ve done this winter, I’m content, especially when I notice things I’ve made.

          When I turn my gaze inward, I have that same combination of overwhelmed and content. There are so many ways in which I fail. There’s so much work to do in my life, but at the same time, I’ve been praying “the Lord’s prayer” for myself a lot recently. “Thy will be done in my mind (thoughts), my heart (will), my bowels (feelings), body, relationship, and deeds as it is in Heaven…” And if I’ve learned anything in the past thirty-some years, it’s that He will make sure I get off at the right road or exit. Right now, at least, I’m not panicking.

How does one achieve this? I don’t really know. I’m more used to the overwhelmed or empty feeling. One thing I can tell you – it’s not a function of how much stuff one has. I’d like to be spiritual and say “It’s how much God one has” or – perhaps more correctly, “How much God has one.” But, while I suspect that’s true, I don’t know that I can say it from experience or knowledge. I’m not sure I can hold onto the contentment when things spin out of control and I don’t get my way, and that’s part of the equation, too. I suspect that it is one of those things that is a work in progress in the life of every person.