MONEY IS EVERYTHING ISN’T IT?
10/11/06
I have wanted and needed money just as every man ,woman and child in the world has. Every saint and every sinner needs money. Every saintly institution in the world needs money to exist and their followers, founders and board of directors either personally donate to the institution or find ways of raising money for the institution. If the saintliest of men and women grovel for the dollar, yen or euro, what does that say about the primary importance of money? Is money more important than God? Is money God? What kind of a God is money? I don’t know the God of money, Mammon. I don’t think I ever knew him. That is probably why I’ve never considered money as a God. I’ve known people who have. I know people who don’t realize that they worship Mammon, but they do. Not only do they worship him, but they continue to be enslaved willingly to him.
A friend of mine whose opinion I once trusted as a bell weather or guide for the most altruistic motives admitted to me that he wasn’t a pure altruist, but he was a guilt ridden altruist, who felt he was a slave to the financial system. He used a bank. He needed a credit card. He was afraid not to pay his taxes. He was a reluctant slave to Mammon and he suffered for his blasphemy by his guilt and shame that he could not shake off the system. He felt everyone including himself, who was enslaved willingly was a hypocrite of the highest order. To him I am a complete sinner because I fully acknowledge and accept my need for money however, I feel that the Great God , the creator of all things must of understood man’s need for commerce, his need for material goods to survive on this planet, and his need for money. He knew that man would have to find ways of creating money to survive in the world, so he created work. But he gave mankind a free will to choose what type of work each individual wanted to pursue. Is it work to pick an apple from a tree to eat when you are hungry? Is it work for someone to plant a seed or seeds in the ground and wait for it to grow and be harvested? Many feel joy in their work and do not see their work as a form of slavery or indebtedness to a corporation or individual master. They choose their work for the money or the joy it gives them. The truly blessed person is someone who creates great wealth from something he enjoys working at. This is my life’s goal. To create enough money to continue the work I so enjoy doing. To write, produce a radio talk show and to produce a weekly television program and expand their broadcast to larger audiences. These things I love to do and think of doing. Unfortunately like all creative professions they don’t always make one a millionaire.
The sad fact is most artists, writers, musicians and lovers of what they do starve to death. The saddest truth to this statement is that many of the very best creative minds have starved or been imprisoned , tortured , humiliated or died in obscurity because of their obsessive love for their work of discovering truth. They became slaves to their own egos. Wow! They chose death rather than prostituting their ideal of who they thought they were. Several received immortality and the gratitude of future generations for their sacrifice to their ideals. Others died unknown and have remained unknown because they either had no talent and discovered that too late or, they always knew they had little talent in their profession but chose to pursue the life because; they still received great joy and personal, spiritual gratification from their work.
Emerson created a wonderful essay entitled the Law of Compensation. I suggest everyone read it at least once in their life. I have personally read it at least 50 times. His brilliance, encapsulated in the Law of Compensation the most powerful of all universal laws. To paraphrase the concept of this essay does not do it justice however, I will attempt to explain this law in a brief summary for my readers. For every action there is an equal reaction. Every positive or negative human endeavor is justly compensated for. Compensation is not always monetary. Compensation can be received in many ways both positive and negative. But if we do honest work for ourselves or our employers or our family and friends, then the compensation we receive could be in many ways. Just to be rewarded for your work in money seems such a very shallow reason for doing the work. Doing work for reasons of personal satisfaction knowing that you have put great effort into something bigger than yourself, something that will lead to something greater in the future or will bring a smile to your spouse’s eyes and a joy and pride to your child is a far greater reward than a few dollars of paper money.
That is the essence of love, parenthood and childhood. The hard work we perform in all tasks either for monetary compensation or for joy all have their immediate and long-term reward. The Law of Compensation is defined in the fundamental laws of physics. For every high there is a low for every joy there is sadness. For every moment we live there is an opportunity to learn, to experience joy, to create something never before created that will serve us or others. For every life there is death. All nature has its basic laws. The four seasons, the sun rises and sets, the oceans rise and fall with the tides. These are as steady as a heartbeat, as regular as waking in the morning and sleeping at night. If there is a long drought or a long period of rain, nature will eventually correct itself. In this way those who suffer greatly for a long period of time can be certain of there just compensation in the hearts and minds of those who love and care for them, or in a sudden flood of good fortune, a miraculous healing or sudden wealth or finding love or success never before imagined.
Mr. Emerson was correct in his definition of the Law of Compensation. It is an unbending Law. I have seen it in action in my own life and in the lives around me. I have no envy for all who do better than I do or have more than I do. In my own heart I know I will always have enough and, the harder I work at what I love to do the greater I will be compensated for it. As I practice, learn , create, feel , love and hate, I am moving forward . As a farmer plows his fields and plants his seeds, he knows that the Fall will reward him with a harvest. It is the same for all professions. If one has not achieved a harvest worthy of his efforts, then his talents or efforts may not yet be equal to the compensation he desires. If I am a student of art and not yet a master I cannot rightfully expect to be paid as a master. Once I achieve a master’s status, then I can rightfully claim a master’s fee for my services. The world automatically recognizes a master often before the master identifies the mastery of his skill in himself. Mastery is a mental state of confidence in one’s own work and achievements. It is that confidence that creates the confidence in others, to commission the master and reward him or her fairly for their talent and skill. Under the Law of Compensation Emerson states; “we cannot be cheated, nor can we cheat ourselves.” Each disappointment is a lesson; each failure is a learning opportunity. The death of a loved one, a personal illness or hardship we endure, creates a “genius” within us that will create the opportunity for our ultimate success and happiness
Money isn’t everything , it is a tool that mankind uses to trade services and we can charge whatever price we want or give away our service . But we will never go unrewarded. Unwavering faith in ourselves and faith in our goals will eventually lead us to the fulfillment of unimaginable success.
L.A. STEEL
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