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Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also [Matthew 6.19-21].
The accumulation of fears frequently accompanies the accumulation of wealth. We fear that possessions will be lost, that comforts will become hardships, that those without will commit violent acts to take away our wealth.
Accumulation of wealth frequently requires the accumulation of instruments of security. We seek to buy freedom from anxiety by spending a considerable portion of our resources to protect the wealth we have accumulated.
Perceiving only a secular reality, a material existence, our earthly thoughts cannot envision a solution for our fears other than physical safeguards. Our efforts are directed only at developing temporal protections, transient security. We feel no confidence in our safety and find no rest in our peace.
. . . the Holy Spirit gives man the power to resist the delusions of the world so that although he makes use of earthly good, yet he uses them as a temporary visitor, without attaching his heart to them. But a man who has not got the Holy Spirit, despite all his learning and prudence, is always more or less a slave and worshiper of the world [St. Innocent of Irkutsk, Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven].
One attains peace, within whose mind all desires dissipate without creating any mental disturbance, as river waters enter the full ocean without creating any disturbance. One who desires material objects is never peaceful [Bhagavad Gita 2.70].
A strong economic order requires a stable social environment in which to function. Secular fear on the part of the business community inhibits commerce. Divine trust in the Almighty Creator produces confidence, harmony and the mutual understanding, necessary items for peaceful economic progress.
Without trust in the Divine Creator, extreme cyclical disharmony, social friction and physical conflict manifest themselves. Submission to God’s will anoints the society.
You cannot destroy the passions on your own, but ask God, and He will destroy them, if this is profitable for you [St. Anatoly of Optina].
