A few weeks ago my minister, David, started his Sunday sermon describing his mother's attitude about money when he was growing up. She had great difficulty spending it and the only satisfaction she derived from each purchase was defined by how much she saved.
I thought, wait a minute. I'm not your mom. How do you know this about me?
I used to think my husband Ken had a strange relationship with money. But somewhere along the way realized that I, as well, had an unhealthy relationship with money. It used to be called "depression mentality." We were the Yin and Yang of unhealthy views.
Of course I still don't throw it away but when I realized at some point that Jesus spent his time here on earth talking to us about our relationships to money, I worked on why I functioned the way I did. My attitude was fear based and I wanted to get over that. I now find great joy in sharing what I have. Sometimes anonymously. But I'm not unique in this by any means.
Last week in Forum a younger guy facilitated a discussion on folks, from poor to rich, and how our values influence our view of wealth. It was great. He had an excellent handout on the hidden rules of economic classes. But the most interesting thing he shared was a very sad story about his uncle. I want to share it with you here. I may not have it quite right (forgive me Luis.) But this is what I heard.
His uncle was a wealthy man but not very social. Nor was he generous. He would come to family celebrations but would not get involved in the festivities, no matter what they were. At some point, in most family gatherings, he would take out his (fat) wallet and proceed to count his money in front of the group.
I know people like that and I'm sure you do too. It may not be a fat wallet but they find other ways to demonstrate superiority. I find it to be so very sad for all concerned. Including, and maybe especially, the uncle.
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