Before striving to shore up our investments during this economic recovery period, may I suggest we pause to considering the power of money? While the human tendency is to strive for equilibrium as quickly as possible after an upheaval, using this time rather to examine the place of money in our lives may prove to be beneficial.##M:[more]##
One way we use money is to shelter us from harm. We are anxious to accumulate enough to shield us from misfortune and pain. Still, again we are reminded, as long as we rely on our own diligence for security we will never be free from the fear of wondering if we have enough. This crisis reminds us of what we may wish to ignore, camouflage and deny — that there are innumerable things in the world that we can’t control, no matter how much money we’ve accumulated.
It has been said that how we spend our money determines where our heart will be, what kind of person will become, what we hope for. Does your current use of money reflect the values to hold, the desires you have for the world, the kind of person you wish to become, what you hope for? An alternative to consider is investing your treasure in the spiritual priorities and values you affirm, knowing your heart will follow like a dog runs after a stick.
This may be the perfect time to hold possessions loosely, investing them in those activities you value, being generous toward others as God is generous. This, in fact, may be the best way if not the only way, to experience freedom from the fear of wondering if you have enough. Investing in God’s economy allows us to look to money for what money can provide (a way to express our values) and to God for what God can provide (amazing grace, abundant life and salvation). Such economics is an exercise in imagination and a practice in life priorities whose time may have come. The Rev. Paul Lutz
Pastor,
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
177 Princeton Hightstown Road
