Our online banking username and passwords are scripture references. This means that every time I log in to balance our checkbook or pay bills I start by typing scripture. It is a way of being grounded in what I believe as I distribute and manage one of my worldly resources. Part of the reason I do this is that once I heard a sermon that claimed that a checkbook is a theological statement. I think this is true because money is a distillation of our lives. It’s what we trade our time and energy for so that we can in turn trade the money for housing, food, entertainment, and more. How we do this illumines what we value. If you were to look at your bank statements as a reflection of what matters to you would it match up?
I know that when I’m stressed and annoyed I find myself buying things to pamper myself. This is not inherently a bad thing and in small doses can be good self-care, but it can spiral in to self-indulgence. Suddenly I’m telling myself I deserve all sorts of things and before long all my resources are allocated to frivolities that were fun for a moment, but have no lasting depth. That’s not what I want my life to be about.
Reminding myself what matters to me and using my resources, not just money, but time and energy as well to reflect those values is a regular part of my spiritual practice. This is something I am refining. It’s also something that a lot of people in our community are interested in working on. The key question we will be exploring is does our life match our values? This month to help us engage that conversation we are reading the book Free. While we might not agree with all of the ideas in the book, it will help each one of us who participates in the study to contemplate how to align our lives and values. Read along with us and if you can join us on 8 consecutive Wednesday nights starting January 28th at 7pm.
-Eilidh
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| Order here http://www.amazon.com/Free-Spending-Your-Money-Matters/dp/0830836497 |
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