Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:13-21
contains two segments regarding greed and possessions.
Luke 12:13-15 is a
pronouncement story, offering a warning against greed. The story is unique to
Luke. In context, the story is part of a larger unit in Luke 12:1-13:21, where
Jesus alternately teaches the crowds and disciples as he journeys to Jerusalem.
Luke interjects a question, not about whom to fear, but rather whom (or what)
the crowds and disciples ought to trust. Where should they look for reliable
security and riches? Jesus responds by discussing three subjects: greed (vv.
13-21), anxiety (vv. 22-32) and simple living (vv. 33-34). Only Luke includes
this dialogue between Jesus and the quarreling brothers.[1]
This text recounts
Jesus' response to an interruption injected by a nameless individual in a
question-and-answer session which takes place in the midst of a raucous crowd
of thousands (12:1). The question, in context, seems banal and hopelessly
petty. Jesus has been encouraging the crowd to be fearless and faithful
witnesses even in the face of persecution "before the synagogues, the
rulers, and the authorities" (12:11). At this point, 13 someone in the crowd, interrupting Jesus, said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to
divide the family inheritance with me.” He seeks counsel about arbitrating
a dispute over an estate. That the
anonymous person asks Jesus such a question indicates that the questioner
recognized Jesus as a religious authority to whom one might properly address
this question. Issues of inheritance are treated in such texts as Deuteronomy
21:15-17 and Numbers 27:1-11; 36:1-9; and therefore, if Jesus were perceived to
be a scribe or religious scholar, it was a question he could legitimately
answer. The man has a level of respect for Jesus. Taken in context, however, it
does seem rather silly. He does not get it.[2] 14 But he said to him, in a
response that was terse and to the point, “Friend
(Anqrwpe, better than NRSV is “man” or “sir”, retaining the Greek aloofness), who set me to be a judge or arbitrator
over you?” The phrasing is reminiscent of the retort to Moses in Ex 2:14,
which may have become proverbial. We could also view it as a quip, in which
Jesus rejects a role widely expected of a Judean religious teacher in that
time. In any case, Jesus clearly rejects
the role of judge in such disputes. Yet, we as readers know that he will come
again to judge the world. Right now, however, he has not come to settle matters
of inheritances. He has far more important matters about which to judge. Jesus
refused to enter into the discussion as the judge between the brothers -
whether this was because Jesus believed the one seeking his services was
unworthy, or if he was unwilling to get involved in the age-old tradition of
haggling over every tiny aspect of an estate, is unimportant here. Indeed, one
can settle such matters only when one addresses the basic issues of greed and
covetousness. With this in mind, Jesus then continues with a warning against
greed. 15 And he said to them (the
crowd), “Take care (Orate,
Watch out)! Jesus implies that greed and covetousness are difficult to see and
to guard against. Such is the insidiousness of greed, the fool's vice (v.20). Be on your guard (fulassesqe,
beware)
against all kinds of greed; for one’s
life (zwh) does not consist in the
abundance of possessions.” Thus, not only does Jesus refuse to get into a
legal squabble, but he also directs the person to the underlying coveting that
causes the dispute. This is a proverbial saying that lays out a warning. Jesus
does not leave the role of "Teacher" for that of "Judge."
The concerns of greed and jealousy are nothing compared to one's life.
This framework
turns the parable that follows into an example story. The parable will become
an example of the warning against all kinds of greed and the observation that
life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions. Yet, if that observation is true, in what
does life consist? Like the wisdom teachers of his time, Luke will focus our
attention upon his view of possessions. The general point, similar to the moral
instruction of the wisdom tradition, is that to live only for creature comforts
is shallow and that avarice is folly. The parable (12:16-21) becomes an example
story or morality tale. Jesus will warn against anxiety over earthly things
(12:22-32). Jesus urges his followers to sell their possessions, give alms, and
have treasure in heaven (12:33-34).
Luke 12:16-21 is
the parable of the rich fool. The source is material unique to Luke. Thomas
also has a version of the story.[3] In context, the prior section handled the
question of the substance of life (zoe), while this section turns to its close
cousin, the soul (psyche).
16 Then he told them a parable:
“The land of a rich man produced abundantly. Jesus is underscoring that
wealth does not simply bless this man; he is very blessed. The parable is about
a man who is already rich and has a plentiful harvest. This bounty is not the
result of the man's wrongdoing - he did not cheat anyone to achieve this gain.
His land produced good harvests; he no doubt worked hard to make it happen. His
riches are not ill-gotten gain. He is an honest man, perhaps highly respected
in his community. We have no hint that anyone thinks badly of him. He is
careful and conservative: He planted, and the soil, rain, sun and wind rewarded
him with a lavish harvest. The simple statement of his wealth leads to a mental
monologue by the rich man. The decisive moment in this story is not the
external response of the rich man - rather, it is his internal decision. 17 And he thought to himself,
‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then
he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and
there I will store (sunaxw) all
my grain and my goods. His greed has turned him inward. It has led to
practical atheism. Oh, if we could talk with him, he might say he believes in
God, but that belief has no influence upon this internal conversation. The
acquisition of so much material fortune understandably gave the man a strong
sense of security. The rather drastic action of tearing down present barns to
build new ones further underscores that the harvest is huge, nothing short of
miraculous. The man has received a
miracle. How does he interpret his
miraculous gift from God? That seems to
me to be the key problem posed by the parable.
His soliloquy shows that he makes no connection between his good fortune
and God's graciousness or his responsibility to the graciousness. Here is his first decision. Because the story
defines this man as rich even before this astounding bumper crop, it would seem
reasonable to assume that he already possessed a large number of barns and
sheds. For a crop to exceed so all his
previous harvests suggests that this was a miraculous harvest, a divine
blessing - not just a good year. The parable of the rich man has wealth so
vast; he continually needed to build in order to warehouse his treasures. Even
his greed seems harmless. He is simply a man who loves possessions. These are
the things for which he lived and which gave meaning to his life. He stored his
treasure for himself rather than allow others to benefit from their judicious
distribution. 19 And I will
say to my soul, Soul (Yuch),
you have ample goods laid up for many years. The fool outlines his vision
of his epicurean future: relax, eat,
drink, and be merry.’ This saying closely resembles popular versions of the
philosophy of Epicureanism. It did not take long for devotees to define it as
the license to "eat, drink and be merry." His tone is
self-congratulatory. However, life is short, and it should have occurred to the
rich fool that he could not take all his wealth with him when confronted with
mortality. The rich fool has forgotten about God and death. The rich fool also
neglects the opportunity to be generous with the gifts with which god had
bestowed upon him. The rich fool has a monologue with his soul, permitting the
audience to observe the man considering what his course of action will be with
this abundant harvest. His decision is crucial.
We now turn to the
unexpected intrusion, a new, intruding voice that disrupts his complacency, not
with active divine judgment, but rather with the reality of the limits of life.
The story puts this in perspective, however, when God breaks into his
hedonistic optimism. 20 But
God said to him, surprisingly, in no other parable of Jesus does God
intrude in such an explicit way to pronounce judgment and impose a conclusion, ‘You fool! This is not a portrait of
endless greed. The message is not just a warning against avarice, but also an
observation that avarice keeps a person's focus entirely this worldly, while at
the same time neglects the next-worldly claims of God. This is a picture of a
fool! This rich man believes that he is capable of hoarding enough to bring
delight and protection to his soul. He envisions only his own pleasure over the
years. The fool lives for himself, talks to himself, plans for himself and
congratulates himself. The rich fool has forgotten that his soul is not his -
and only his - concern. There is no way that he could, on his own and apart
from God, accumulate that which he needs to bring strength and safety to his
soul. His soul is not his possession, and it is certainly not under his
control. In fact, not until now does the rich man relinquish narration of this
parable. A neutral narrator now records
that God spoke to him, the rich man, and reveals that God's plans for his life
are profoundly different from his own. This
very night your life is being demanded of you. At the very moment when this
man's has realized his dreams of material success, he will no longer have
access to them. He loses his life, and with it, any chance that the
possessions, for which he has had to build bigger barns, will do him or anyone
else any good. The egocentricity of
greed creates a bankrupt relationship between the "fool" and God. And the things you have prepared, God
asking a rhetorical question, whose will
they be?’ The plans of the rich man will not usurp the divine plan. The super abundant harvest will go to others
as God intended, not to the rich man.
Once we are dead, and we all must die, our earthly riches cannot follow
us. When God suddenly requires his soul, he dies. All that he has on earth no
longer belongs to him, but now passes on to others. It should have occurred to
the rich fool that God would ask him for his soul. He had done a phenomenal job
of looking out for himself, but he gave his soul poor instructions about how to
find security and pleasure. "For what good is it for a man to gain the
whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (9:25, NIV). The rich
fool has forgotten about God. The rich fool also has forgotten about death. He
does not thank God for the material blessings of his life. Therefore, fools
keeping such wealth to themselves, live spiritually bankrupt lives. Jesus,
perhaps turning to the person who had interrupted him to complain about his
missing share of the family inheritance, makes the point very clear: 21 so it is with those who store
up itsaurizo) treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” The rich
fool chose to "store up" the wrong valuable in the wrong place. The
contrast in the final verse is striking. There are those who store up goods
"for themselves," and there are those who are "rich toward
God." To be rich toward God demands appropriate use of possessions. It is
a metaphorical point similar to that of other parables that portray an
inappropriate response to the coming of God's imperial rule. This farmer fails
to respond appropriately to the situation.
Further, if Jesus congratulated the poor, he may well have said a few
things about how difficult life could be for the rich.
Jesus brings a
consideration of death into one's present life.
One day people will have to answer for their conduct beyond what they
possess. The fool is godless, in that
there is no acknowledgment of God and without the recognition of the
responsibility to use one's wealth for others and in not reckoning with
death. Right when the fool achieves life's
ambition, death removes its fulfillment. This parable does not address in
itself the accumulation of wealth, but it does sharply examine what those who
are wealthy should do with their riches.
One of the most significant points in this parable of the rich fool is
that his land produces so abundantly that his existing storage facilities were
incapable of holding all his crops.
The quandary of
the rich man then is not just how he should deal with this enormous new
harvest, but more significantly, how he should respond to this gracious
blessing from God. There is no exterior
mode of reference for this rich man. He
directs all his musings, all his considerations, towards his own self. For some people, money is their first, last,
and only love.[4]
As the text's unfolding narrative reveals, this rich man focused only on his
own needs and his own future. It is,
thus, not surprising that the solution he comes up with is also wholly selfish. The parable parodies the man's greed by
having him foolishly tear down all his existing storage structures in order to
build new, bigger ones, instead of simply adding on to them. The rich farmer not only denies a tithed
portion to the God who so magnanimously blessed him with this harvest. He also dishonors the social contract that
would stand between him and his community. He needed to learn that the real
measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost our money.[5] He
needed to learn contentment with what he has.
Do a little more than you’re paid to;
Give a little more than you have to;
Try a little harder than you want to;
Aim a little higher than you think possible;
And give a lot of thanks to God for health, family and friends.
Since Mary uttered
the words of The Magnificat (1:46-55), Luke has been telling us about the
reversal of fortunes of the rulers and the humble: "He has filled the
hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty" (1:53, NIV).
Time after time in his gospel, Luke addresses the difficult subject of the
burden of possessions: John the Baptist proclaims, "The man with two
tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do
the same" (3:11, NIV). Jesus cautions, "How hard it is for the rich
to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (18:25,
NIV), and tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31). The rich fool
has forgotten about death, God and the sorry state of being a person of greed.
Luke will continue, even after Pentecost, to set the standard for the disciples
as the voluntary sharing of one's goods with others (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32). The
act of being a generous individual, with the conviction that one is to share
one's bounteous possessions, is lost on the rich fool. He does not see that
accumulating his plentiful crop in bigger barns deprives others. The rich fool
does not need to build larger barns for himself; he needs to fill the barns of
others! "Blessed is the rich person who is found blameless, and who does
not go after gold. Who is he, that we may praise him? For he has done wonders
among his people" (Sirach 31:8). Instead of God calling him a fool, the
assembly could have called him "Blessed." His foolishness is not just greed, but is his
complete, utter self-concern. He is blind to the truth that God will hold him
accountable.
I want to offer a
few practical steps in making wise decisions concerning the things we possess,
based upon the passage before us.
One practical step
in making wise decisions concerning the things we possess is to have that
internal conversation in which we decide that wealth is not happiness.
"Wealth cannot buy happiness" is a bit of common wisdom. Yet, if we
only had more money, we would be happy. Is that not how we think? Our passage
is wisdom for living. Here is a parable about the facts of life. Jesus tells the people a story, a story of a
rich man who had so much that he thought he had it made. Our possessions tend to do that to us. Soul, take it easy, you have it made.
The rich fool
raises the possibility of a hedonistic way of life. Hedonism refers to the
pursuit of devotion to pleasure, but especially the pleasures of the senses.
What is pleasant or has pleasant is good. In psychology, it suggests that the
desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain is the primary motivator of human
behavior. The irony of hedonism is that the more we pursue pleasure, the less
we tend to enjoy it. The rich and famous can be perfectly miserable. The
relentless pursuit of more would appear to be the errand of a fool.
Today, one can
receive the diagnosis of “anhedonia” (without pleasure). The term pairs off
with analgesia. It refers to the pathological depression of passive joylessness
and dreariness, discouragement, dejection, lack of taste, and zeal.[6]
Studies of the brain suggest that happiness stimulates the primitive part of
the brain, which then stimulates the outer part of the brain toward the frontal
lobes. This suggests that the pursuit of enjoyment and pleasure is instinctive
to us. Yet, in these studies, depressed persons do not sustain the pleasure.
Pleasure will be all too fleeting. Such persons experience a loss of interest
in activities that previously gave them pleasure. The experience can lead to
emotional numbness, apathy, loss of sex drive, and the inability to enjoy
simple conversations, hobbies, relationships or anything else. It can be a
serious psychological condition that requires treatment. Beyond such a
diagnosis may be a cultural form of the disorder. The old Rolling Stones lyric
that said, "You can't always get what you want," has become prophetic
in a culture where people have a difficult time distinguishing what they want
from what they need. The pursuit of pleasure is leaving us broke, depressed,
unfulfilled, numb and broken.[7]
The point is that
our biology seems to wire us toward seeking happiness in life, so by all means,
pursue happiness, as the founders of America wisely placed in the Declaration
of Independence. Yet, just as wisely, we need to seek happiness in a wise way.
If we seek to be loved, for example, we will likely not find the love for which
we seek. However, if we seek to love, we will probably receive the love we
seek. If we look solely for happiness, we will unlikely find it. Forget about
happiness. Instead, seek wisdom, goodness, truth, and beauty, and happiness
will find us soon enough. Happiness is the by-product of a well-lived human
life.[8]
We act as if the
earthly pleasures we experience are eternal. We fail to see the eternal value
of the soul. We fail to see its beauty, dignity, and capacity. The soul is
spacious, ample, and lofty, for its capacity for genuine happiness and meaning
is greater than we realize. We make the soul trivial when we treat the finite
pleasures of this life as if they are infinite.[9]
If we listen to
our experience, we will learn of the emptiness of a life lived without true
connection to the eternal. We pursue happiness and enjoyment. We may think we
will find it in receiving honor and riches. Yet, we discover the elusive
quality of happiness when we realize that the more finite pleasure we have, the
more we will desire. Hope for more will rise, but with it will also raise our
deepest pain. We need to learn the art of liberating ourselves from useless
things.[10]
Among the better
reminders to offer a graduating class is that they will go out from here and
very likely make a lot of money. One day, however, they will meet someone for
whom that means very little. Then they will know how poor they really are.[11]
Many wise persons
have warned of wishing for money above all things and loving it more than
anything else.
Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, until you know there is
no hook beneath it.--Thomas Jefferson.
Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure when he is really
selling himself to it. --Benjamin Franklin.
Yet, it is natural and maybe
inevitable that people will try this path. Proteus, the old man of the sea
(Homer), was the Greek god who continually changed shape in whatever object the
seafarer desired. Wealth is like that. It holds out the possibility of becoming
the means through which we can have every happiness in this life. Yet, if we
are fortunate, we will learn that such greed is a foolish way to live.
Transforming wealth into happiness is rare. What a person is contributes fore
to happiness than what one has. Wisdom is path of learning what to do with
leisure and wealth. The superficial person will never learn that path.[12]
A
second practical step in the wise use of our possessions is to share resources
rather than hoard them. What first impresses Jesus is this miraculous,
barn-bursting harvest. How will this man manage his miracle? Spiritually, the
blessing becomes a burden. The gift
becomes a big problem. Giving relates to
a sense of gratitude, a sense that what I have is not only what I earned or
deserved but also is a gift, a trust from God.
Silas Marner was
a miser, a very ill-tempered miser at that. He lived for nothing but the
hoarding of his money. As [author George Eliot] described him: “So year after
year, Silas Marner had lived in this solitude, his guineas rising in the iron
pot, and his life narrowing and hardening itself more and more into a mere
pulsation of desire and satisfaction that had no relation to any other being.” However, someone stole his money and shattered the life of
the man. Nevertheless, when he thought that his life no longer had any
purpose or reason to it he found an abandoned little girl and took her in and
cared for her. Such a strange combination: this old, solitary, bitter man and
this little child. Over time, as
Eliot weaves her wonderful story, the child changes the man and brings
happiness to him and a sense of purpose and fulfillment that his gold had never
and could never have given him. The climax of
the story comes when, 16 years later, authorities
recover the gold. He looks at it in a completely different light. Now it is not
to hoard but to give to his beloved daughter who is about to marry. As Silas says to Eppie: “The money was taken away from me
in time; and you see it’s been kept — till it was wanted for you. The money
takes no hold of me now, the money doesn’t. I wonder if it ever could again —
[but] it might, if I lost you, Eppie. I might come to think I was forsaken
again, and lose the feeling that God was good to me [if I lost you].”[13]
A third practical step is to serve God rather than money. Those
who find ways to serve God have discovered the right path. They need not fear
death, because they know where they are going. Their treasure is waiting for
them in heaven, not in barns or bank accounts.
Jesus brings a
consideration of death into the consideration of the essence or meaning of our
lives. People will answer for their conduct.
The rich man in the story did not acknowledge God. Nor did he consider his responsibility to
others. He had achieved his values, that
of building bigger barns, that of gaining all the symbols of success which this
life could offer. Death, however, robbed
him of fulfilling his dreams.
Death can be a
difficult topic. When I was in Seminary, I became somewhat interested in the
sayings people use to put on gravestones.
A cemetery nearby had some old gravestones, and sometimes one could make
out what they had written on them. When
I was in my first appointment as a United Methodist pastor, across the street
was an old cemetery. As I walked through, I saw some sayings. Most were
forgettable. However, one set of
tombstones was memorable, for it contained a family in which the four children
died in their first or second year of life, with their mother dying shortly
after the last one. A few years later, the father and husband died. It was
sobering for young pastor to read. However, I came across an article in which
he revealed he had been collecting sayings from around the country, which were
included on gravestones. The ones he
place in the article were the humorous ones.
For a dentist:
Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity!
John Brown is filling his last
cavity.
A
doctor hoped to see his patients again:
Office Upstairs.
On
another, the husband clearly was happy his wife was gone:
Here lies my wife
Here let her lie
Now she's at rest
And so am I.
In
Tombstone, Arizona one from the old west does a play on the dead person's
name:
Here lies Lester Moore
Four slugs from a forty-four
No Les
No More.
At
the grave of Arthur G. Homan, in Cleveland, Ohio:
Here lies an atheist--
All dressed up and no place to go.
My
personal favorite is one from Albany, New Hampshire:
Here lies Henry Edsel Smith
Born 1903. Died 1942.
Looked up the elevator shaft
to see if the car
was on the way down.
It was.
When God finally
speaks in the story, we hear these words: Fool, this night you will die. All these things you possess, whose are they
now? These words may seem harsh, but
they are the facts of life. Our lives do not go on forever. Each of us is terminal. Our possessions, no matter how impressive,
are no hedge against the ending of our lives.
Robert Fulghum is
an author who wrote Everything I Needed
to Learn I Learned in Kindergarten. He relates the story that he has
already picked out his grave, and he likes to visit it. It reminds him to live
life in a way that is rich toward God. When he visits it, he says to himself,
"Don't get lost here. Know where you're going."[14]
One day a
procession of people will travel out to the cemetery, say some words over a
grave, and then, everyone will return home – everyone but us. What then?[15]
Well, I hope we have learned the truth of what Jesus says, not only in this article, but also in the experiences of our lives. After all, what Jesus says here is wisdom and insight for how to lead our lives. It ought to guide us in our decisions concerning wealth. Truly, human life is more than the abundance of the things we possess. What we need is to become rich toward God.
Well, I hope we have learned the truth of what Jesus says, not only in this article, but also in the experiences of our lives. After all, what Jesus says here is wisdom and insight for how to lead our lives. It ought to guide us in our decisions concerning wealth. Truly, human life is more than the abundance of the things we possess. What we need is to become rich toward God.
[1] However,
the non-canonical gospel of Thomas contains similar, although separate, stories
(Saying 72 and 63). Rudolf Bultmann contended that because this exchange
between Jesus and the man seeking his inheritance stands rather awkwardly and
alone between two other strongly discernable units, one should view it as a
later addition to the text. He suggests
that the man's request for judgment and Jesus' sharp retort possibly reflect a
situation the early church itself was struggling with at the time. Others point
out that the strong language Jesus uses against this seemingly innocuous
request, coupled with his refusal to act as judge, presents an odd and awkward
situation for the first century church.
The first generation of the church longed for, and expected almost
daily, the return of Christ in exactly that judge identity. To present a portrait of Jesus in the gospels
where he explicitly rejects the role of judge or arbitrator certainly does not
seem like a wise editorial choice.
[2] There
is some scholarly musing that "the crowd" represents the Zealots,
whose hopes and perceptions of the Messiah color their reactions to Jesus. If this is the case, Jesus may be rejecting
the role this man wishes him to play as the messianic ruler who, like the Old
Testament Joshua, decides upon and divides up Israel's inheritance. This role assumes the political and military
might of the Messiah, and as such, is a function with which Jesus stridently
refuses to be associated. If any verse
here may be a later editorial addition, v. 15 is the best candidate. It serves to explain the harshness of Jesus'
refusal to act as judge by focusing on the issue of greed. Most scholars
suggest that the admonition is Luke’s comment on the general import of the
dialogue. It serves as a transition to
the parable of the rich but foolish farmer.
[3]
Th 63:1-3
1 There was a rich person
who had a great deal of money. 2 He said, 'I shall invest my money so that I
may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack
nothing.' 3 These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very
night he died.
[4] "Money is my first,
last, and only love." - Armand Hammer
[5]
The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost our
money. —J.H. Jowett.
[6]
According to William James the term was coined by Théodule-Armand Ribot. (Varieties
of Religious Experience Lecture VI, "The Sick Soul," William James
1902.)
[7] Brynie, Faith.
"Depression and Anhedonia." Psychology Today website, December 21,
2009. psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-sense/200912/depression-and-anhedonia.
Viewed February 2, 2013.
[8] --M. Scott Peck, Abounding
Grace: An Anthology of Wisdom (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2000), 24.
[9] St. Teresa, Interior
Castles: We "pretend that
earthly pleasures are almost eternal."
(48) That is because we fail to
see the eternal value of the soul: "I can find nothing with which to
compare the great beauty of a soul and its great capacity ... We can hardly
form any conception of the soul's great dignity and beauty. (28, 29)
In speaking of the soul we must always think of it as spacious, ample
and lofty, and this can be done without the least exaggeration, for the soul's
capacity is much greater than we can realize. (37)"
[10] Spinoza’s preface to De Emendatione. After experience had taught me that all things
which frequently take place in ordinary life are vain and futile, and when I
saw that all the things I feared had nothing good or bad in them save in so far
as the mind was affected by them; I determined at last to inquire whether there
was anything which might be truly good, whether I might discover and attain the
faculty of enjoying throughout eternity continual supreme happiness. I should see the many advantages acquired
from honor and riches. But the more one
possesses, the more the pleasure is increased and the more one is in
consequence encouraged to increase them.
Whereas if at any time our hope is frustrated, there arises in us the
deepest pain. The more the mind knows,
the better it understands its forces and the order of nature, the better it
will be able to direct itself and lay down the rules for itself; and the more
easily it will be able to liberate itself from useless things; this is the
whole method.
[11]
Rudyard Kipling, in
address to the graduating medical class of McGill University.
[12] Schopenhauer, Essays, “Wisdom of Life. People are often reproached for wishing for
money above all things, ad for loving it more than anything else; but it is
natural and even inevitable for people to love that which, like an unwearied
Proteus, is always ready to turn itself into whatever object their wandering
wishes of their manifold desires may fix uupon.
Everything else can satisfy only one wish; money alone is absolutely
good because it is the abstract satisfaction of every wish. Yet such greed is silly, for we can rarely
find the key to transforming wealth into happiness. What a man is contributes more to his
happiness than what he has. The
superficial man does not know what to do with his leisure. Not wealth, but wisdom is the way.
[13]
In spired by —Robert Rayburn, “Rich toward God,” January 12, 2003, Faith
Presbyterian Church Web Site, Faithtacoma.org/sermons.
[14] (The Door, May/June 1995).
[15] I
came across statement that Karl Barth was fond of saying this. I do not know
where, and I have read a lot of Barth.
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