Greed, Wealth
Daily Meditation 859–7/7/2024
Again, as a preface, these Meditations are never explicitly religious. I try to write them as neutrally as possible. However, religious texts often hold wonderful insights whether you believer or do not.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says “Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”
And this seems spot on.
Chasing riches — greed — is a treadmill. The big bonus or promotional raise. The new model of your car. A bigger house with more footage to store. The newest games for your kids (plus their tablets, PCs, and clothes).
Those who have much want for more.
Those who have much fear losing much.
This is the danger of greed with wealth. Wealth is not inherently anything — not good nor bad. It’s when we pursue more and more and more for its own sake that it becomes greed.
Striving to be better is part of human nature. We must always rise each day with a better self in mind — to have better, mutually constructive relationships, to be stable financially, to be stimulated and educated, to seek spiritual gratification. But also we must not be gluttonous. “Too much” is something that exists all around.
