Scripture makes it clear that we cannot serve two Gods, love of money is hatred of God. However, a question that has always troubled me, and has even led to very severe faith crises, is WHY has God allowed establishment and continuity of the monetary system as a thing that makes up such an important part of our lives. In the modern world, where the gap between rich and poor is becoming ever more wide, the scourge of money as something that makes or breaks lives has become ever more apparent. I believe it was not originally intended for money to be a part of our lives. If we really think about it, it is ridiculous how we, out of our "good" consciousness, can give value to something so artificial such as money. Gold, without the value we give to it that's measured by quantity, is simply another metal on Mendeleev's Periodic Table. Though I come from a very fortunate background money wise (though far from the top, nor do i desire to be at the top), a lot of what I see in this world makes me sad, and it is all because of the monetary system we are so tied to:
1. Across the world, and increasingly in my home country China, people are not judged based on the content of their character but by their wealth and social status. Sure, more or less, it has always been this way since the advent of so-called "civilization", but we're becoming more and more primitive and rustic when it comes to spiritual and moral cultivation.
2. It gives me a sense of guilt, as a middle class individual, that anything I have managed to do, to make myself and to make those I care about feel happier, was achieved because of money, not just because of "me" (if you know what I mean). What makes me deserving of a better life over that kid on the street? Assuming we are both of good character. Just because I have more pieces of paper and metal than him? It simply cannot be justified. Why do I somehow deserve a life with less worries than that kid on the street?
3. The pursuit of money and social status brings much stress, anxiety, and it destroys souls. Yet people who are trapped in this never-ending cycle of misery due to money being the only avenue to making any progress in their lives are forced to deal with these harsh realities that they're too powerless to do anything about, and many simply aren't strong enough to resist the psychological crushing and molding that often comes as a result of being forced to survive in this increasingly cold and ruthless world.
4. If I could do anything to help people I would, but what do I need to achieve any kind of tangible result? I NEED MONEY!
5. Money, despite the sheer ridiculousness of it even being a thing, is so frighteningly powerful because of the rich and powerful on top whom 99% of them have no real conscience to speak of. Banks and governments can choose to weave, or not weave money out of thin air based on nothing other than their whim. They throw a few scraps to people when it is to their benefit, but how many of them really care about how your average family is doing? I doubt that it's something that manages to even cross their minds, for 99% of them.
6. Money unites people, but often in non-genuine ways. People, whether as individuals or as part of interest groups, can pretend to smile and get along with each other if there's profit for all of them (and then, they turn their backs against each other). It is extremely fake and full of deception. What a way to be. Money is very much something that also divides people. In the face of money, I have seen and heard stories (as well as experienced it personally) of children and parents, relatives, friends, and couples go to war with each other like they've been archenemies for centuries. If we really get to the bottom of it, it's all fury, accusation, and the utterly despicable faces of humanity all in pursuit of a few pieces of paper and metal. Modern China is becoming absolutely disgusting in this regard, and I know the West is pretty much the same. It's a global cancer, really.
7. The influence of money and states on religion and the church. I recently traveled to England, for the first time ever in my life. I saw some beautiful buildings such as York Minster and St. Paul's in London, but part of me still dislikes the idea of such fancy architecture for the church because it's impure to me. What is the church? A church is a congregation of believers, more than anything else. It should be simple, assuming it even needs to be defined by any sort of physical building. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the church even has to be a building. I certainly appreciated those historic sites, but there was something that didn't feel right to me. Christianity, or basically anything, changes when it becomes associated with power, wealth, and the state. Of course it is only natural for a ruling class to bind people to its will through some kind of ideological framework, but to me it's all corrupt. I also want to talk about the idea of tithing. Even an expression of piety and God's grace must involve money!
8. Money is something that really numbs the hearts, minds, and souls of humanity because many of us lose our ideals, our faith, and our optimism because we are told, either directly or indirectly, to "stop complaining, it is the way it is, just deal with it and get on with it." It's an endless cycle of hopelessness and suffering for so many of us deep in our hearts. The modern world keeps pushing us towards busyness and productivity, so much that many of us have no real time to reflect on any deeper questions. How much energy in spiritual pursuits will one have when their first and foremost concern is where they'll live and what they'll eat tomorrow? Sure there are those who have (or think they have) achieved that state of tranquility, but let's face it, the vast majority have not. Modern life's overwhelming focus on busyness and productivity (often to no meaningful end other than to make someone else richer), in my view, engineers a kind of passivity and apathy towards spirituality and social injustices. This is all part of a system which has managed to successfully keep us enslaved. The rich, powerful, and greedy on top are keenly aware of the fact that if they didn't try to keep us busy and stressed out all the time, that if we all had more moments of peace and clarity, we'd probably stop and ask ourselves: "What is this all for?" And then? We might start resisting.
9. On the Myers-Briggs I am an INFP, one of the rarest personality types (2-3% of the population, I believe). I've been told to "suck it up and deal with it" way too many times, too many times when I try to express some insight, when I ask questions, I'm told to shut up for being naive, for being a whiner who just can't deal with things as they are. In the past, when I was in a deeper state of depression, I nearly committed suicide by grabbing a knife and trying to slit my wrists. My deep sense of unhappiness in this world led me to seek counseling, but they all told me one way or another to "suck it up, it's not the world's problem, it's your problem for being a whiny little bugger." Sure, next time somebody wants to break my day, try dismissing me when I try to share some ideas and ideals with them. That'll make me back off. I thank God for lifting me up and I've not had any suicide attempt for 4 years, but the sense of sadness persists every time I think about how many humans become utterly inhuman just because of money.
10. Our physical deaths (the first), and our second chance at either eternal life or eternal condemnation at the Judgment are equalizers. However, for many of us, this earthly life we live is still a long one, and it brings me pain to see how people are so blinded by these false truths (AKA lies).
11. If I have my own children someday, what am I going to teach them about the world? Is this a world I'd really want to bring them into? Sure I can tell them that it's mostly rainbows and sunshine, but to me that would be deceiving them and deceiving myself. There are no easy solutions, really, if there are even any.
12. "I know you didn't grow up a rich and spoiled brat like many these days, but still you say these things, still you criticize and express your negative sentiments against the monetary system and what it does to people, because you haven't really lived at the bottom and you don't know what it means to fend for your very survival." That, to me, is an assumption that I'm arrogant and view people who have been less fortunate than me with contempt, when fact is I am nothing but the opposite. And it makes me feel very sad when people have the assumptions towards me when they don't even know, NOR try to understand where I am coming from. Nor do they care, I think. Too little time in the modern world is spent listening, KNOWING. You get to know more people, but you know less people. The whole mainstream culture, whether in the West or the East, is one of being in a hurry for time, for money. It is about the justification of squeezing and compartmentalizing time, things, and human interactions, rather than just living, doing, and savoring. The other day I was talking to a girl I sort of knew, she seemed nice at first so I thought about befriending her (no romantic intentions). I brought up what I typed just now to her, and her reply was:
"I think there are reasons for this. My time is precious, and I hope it becomes ever more precious. I don't think everyone is worth getting to know, and I have many things to do. I divide people into three categories: Those I know, those I don't know, and those I consider friends. You're not at level 3 yet."
To me, not only was an attitude like that so off-putting, it doesn't make sense to me either. How do you get to know someone better UNLESS you spend time with them in person? Yet her reply demonstrates her own "logic".
I thank God for all He has guided me through, but the whole issue of money at a spiritual and philosophical level is extremely difficult for me to reconcile between God, myself, and this life. I find it hard to accept the fact that a just God would allow the advent, and the continued existence of something He knows will bring so much pain, anger, frustration, greed, and heartbreak, and it is even part of His teachings. It really feels like a big slap in the face, the equivalent of saying: "I allowed for this mess to occur, yet now, out of my sheer hypocrisy, I will teach all of you how to deal with it in the midst of your suffering." I can't get my head around it.
1. Across the world, and increasingly in my home country China, people are not judged based on the content of their character but by their wealth and social status. Sure, more or less, it has always been this way since the advent of so-called "civilization", but we're becoming more and more primitive and rustic when it comes to spiritual and moral cultivation.
2. It gives me a sense of guilt, as a middle class individual, that anything I have managed to do, to make myself and to make those I care about feel happier, was achieved because of money, not just because of "me" (if you know what I mean). What makes me deserving of a better life over that kid on the street? Assuming we are both of good character. Just because I have more pieces of paper and metal than him? It simply cannot be justified. Why do I somehow deserve a life with less worries than that kid on the street?
3. The pursuit of money and social status brings much stress, anxiety, and it destroys souls. Yet people who are trapped in this never-ending cycle of misery due to money being the only avenue to making any progress in their lives are forced to deal with these harsh realities that they're too powerless to do anything about, and many simply aren't strong enough to resist the psychological crushing and molding that often comes as a result of being forced to survive in this increasingly cold and ruthless world.
4. If I could do anything to help people I would, but what do I need to achieve any kind of tangible result? I NEED MONEY!
5. Money, despite the sheer ridiculousness of it even being a thing, is so frighteningly powerful because of the rich and powerful on top whom 99% of them have no real conscience to speak of. Banks and governments can choose to weave, or not weave money out of thin air based on nothing other than their whim. They throw a few scraps to people when it is to their benefit, but how many of them really care about how your average family is doing? I doubt that it's something that manages to even cross their minds, for 99% of them.
6. Money unites people, but often in non-genuine ways. People, whether as individuals or as part of interest groups, can pretend to smile and get along with each other if there's profit for all of them (and then, they turn their backs against each other). It is extremely fake and full of deception. What a way to be. Money is very much something that also divides people. In the face of money, I have seen and heard stories (as well as experienced it personally) of children and parents, relatives, friends, and couples go to war with each other like they've been archenemies for centuries. If we really get to the bottom of it, it's all fury, accusation, and the utterly despicable faces of humanity all in pursuit of a few pieces of paper and metal. Modern China is becoming absolutely disgusting in this regard, and I know the West is pretty much the same. It's a global cancer, really.
7. The influence of money and states on religion and the church. I recently traveled to England, for the first time ever in my life. I saw some beautiful buildings such as York Minster and St. Paul's in London, but part of me still dislikes the idea of such fancy architecture for the church because it's impure to me. What is the church? A church is a congregation of believers, more than anything else. It should be simple, assuming it even needs to be defined by any sort of physical building. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the church even has to be a building. I certainly appreciated those historic sites, but there was something that didn't feel right to me. Christianity, or basically anything, changes when it becomes associated with power, wealth, and the state. Of course it is only natural for a ruling class to bind people to its will through some kind of ideological framework, but to me it's all corrupt. I also want to talk about the idea of tithing. Even an expression of piety and God's grace must involve money!
8. Money is something that really numbs the hearts, minds, and souls of humanity because many of us lose our ideals, our faith, and our optimism because we are told, either directly or indirectly, to "stop complaining, it is the way it is, just deal with it and get on with it." It's an endless cycle of hopelessness and suffering for so many of us deep in our hearts. The modern world keeps pushing us towards busyness and productivity, so much that many of us have no real time to reflect on any deeper questions. How much energy in spiritual pursuits will one have when their first and foremost concern is where they'll live and what they'll eat tomorrow? Sure there are those who have (or think they have) achieved that state of tranquility, but let's face it, the vast majority have not. Modern life's overwhelming focus on busyness and productivity (often to no meaningful end other than to make someone else richer), in my view, engineers a kind of passivity and apathy towards spirituality and social injustices. This is all part of a system which has managed to successfully keep us enslaved. The rich, powerful, and greedy on top are keenly aware of the fact that if they didn't try to keep us busy and stressed out all the time, that if we all had more moments of peace and clarity, we'd probably stop and ask ourselves: "What is this all for?" And then? We might start resisting.
9. On the Myers-Briggs I am an INFP, one of the rarest personality types (2-3% of the population, I believe). I've been told to "suck it up and deal with it" way too many times, too many times when I try to express some insight, when I ask questions, I'm told to shut up for being naive, for being a whiner who just can't deal with things as they are. In the past, when I was in a deeper state of depression, I nearly committed suicide by grabbing a knife and trying to slit my wrists. My deep sense of unhappiness in this world led me to seek counseling, but they all told me one way or another to "suck it up, it's not the world's problem, it's your problem for being a whiny little bugger." Sure, next time somebody wants to break my day, try dismissing me when I try to share some ideas and ideals with them. That'll make me back off. I thank God for lifting me up and I've not had any suicide attempt for 4 years, but the sense of sadness persists every time I think about how many humans become utterly inhuman just because of money.
10. Our physical deaths (the first), and our second chance at either eternal life or eternal condemnation at the Judgment are equalizers. However, for many of us, this earthly life we live is still a long one, and it brings me pain to see how people are so blinded by these false truths (AKA lies).
11. If I have my own children someday, what am I going to teach them about the world? Is this a world I'd really want to bring them into? Sure I can tell them that it's mostly rainbows and sunshine, but to me that would be deceiving them and deceiving myself. There are no easy solutions, really, if there are even any.
12. "I know you didn't grow up a rich and spoiled brat like many these days, but still you say these things, still you criticize and express your negative sentiments against the monetary system and what it does to people, because you haven't really lived at the bottom and you don't know what it means to fend for your very survival." That, to me, is an assumption that I'm arrogant and view people who have been less fortunate than me with contempt, when fact is I am nothing but the opposite. And it makes me feel very sad when people have the assumptions towards me when they don't even know, NOR try to understand where I am coming from. Nor do they care, I think. Too little time in the modern world is spent listening, KNOWING. You get to know more people, but you know less people. The whole mainstream culture, whether in the West or the East, is one of being in a hurry for time, for money. It is about the justification of squeezing and compartmentalizing time, things, and human interactions, rather than just living, doing, and savoring. The other day I was talking to a girl I sort of knew, she seemed nice at first so I thought about befriending her (no romantic intentions). I brought up what I typed just now to her, and her reply was:
"I think there are reasons for this. My time is precious, and I hope it becomes ever more precious. I don't think everyone is worth getting to know, and I have many things to do. I divide people into three categories: Those I know, those I don't know, and those I consider friends. You're not at level 3 yet."
To me, not only was an attitude like that so off-putting, it doesn't make sense to me either. How do you get to know someone better UNLESS you spend time with them in person? Yet her reply demonstrates her own "logic".
I thank God for all He has guided me through, but the whole issue of money at a spiritual and philosophical level is extremely difficult for me to reconcile between God, myself, and this life. I find it hard to accept the fact that a just God would allow the advent, and the continued existence of something He knows will bring so much pain, anger, frustration, greed, and heartbreak, and it is even part of His teachings. It really feels like a big slap in the face, the equivalent of saying: "I allowed for this mess to occur, yet now, out of my sheer hypocrisy, I will teach all of you how to deal with it in the midst of your suffering." I can't get my head around it.
