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And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. [Romans 12:2.]
To many of us, wealth represents a source of social independent and freedom. Without wealth we feel constrained to conform to behavior not particularly desirable.
In the media, in social environments and even in church, our consumer driven institutions teach us to accept practices that conflict with our religious, moral and ethical affirmations. We are asked to conform to lifestyles alien to our nature and we readily accept them, destructive as they may be.
We convince ourselves that conformity is essential to success and we adopt behavior established by material marketers promoting an ultimately secular reality. Not only do we accept the tendered lifestyles but we strive to rival and surpass our peers in possessions and affluence.
Wearing fine clothes,
Bearing sharp swords,
Glutting with food and drink,
Hoarding wealth and possessions -
These are the ways of theft,
And distant from the Way. [Tao Te Ching]
Wealth is at once a source of security and also a source of anxiety. We can buy food, clothing and shelter. We can also hide behind our wealth and obtain many privileges and advantages.
However, wealth can produce a constant state of fear that our possessions will be lost, that our comforts will become hardships, and others will take from us what we possess. In our efforts to protect and preserve our property and lifestyle, we often neglect the Divine Reality and thereby lose our equanimity.
Wealth, accumulated in significant quantities, requires its own protection. To safeguard it, we rely on additional physical resources, even on military armaments.
Freeing the individual from fears and helping him/her transcend this transient reality is a primary role of faith. Without the Divine Presence in our lives, we are left holding a decaying carcass and a worthless storehouse of rust and stubble.
Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches. Take heed that your words be purged from idle fancies and worldly desires and your deeds be cleansed from craftiness and suspicion. Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavors be spent in promoting your personal interest… Guard against idleness and sloth, and cling unto that which profiteth mankind, whether young or old, whether high or low. [Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets].
We measure success in our modern business community by profits, returns on investments, capital growth and similar objectives. Being successful means that we have accumulated significantly more material wealth than the average person.
We tolerate eccentricity in business – as measured by our peers – only when wealth has been accumulated. Otherwise, we require conformity. Thus, material success also becomes a source of perceived freedom from self-imposed constraints, adopted with our short-term perception of existence.
Without wealth, the nearsighted fortune seeker feels obligated to conform to the behavior of those surrounding him. He creates his own chains, then hopes to make enough money to be able to remove them.
Beautified in the eyes of the people is the love of desires they covet: Women and sons; hoarded treasures of gold and silver; horses well-bred (for blood and excellence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. Such are the possessions of this world’s life; but in nearness to Allah (God) is the best of the (life’s) goals. [Qur'an 3:14]
Ironically, a response to the fear of losing material possessions is to accumulate even more wealth. We reason that the more wealth we accumulate, the less likely it is that we will become impoverished.
As we gather fortunes, we seek greater fortunes. Accumulation of wealth, possessions and material objects eventually becomes an end in itself.
Our primary objective becomes possessing material objects. We redefine our goals and reinforce our dependence on material security. Ultimately, acquiring wealth replaces other sources of satisfaction.
