Class
Illustration by Khara Scott-Bey from Big Topics at Midnight
In a culture in which money equals power, how do we align our money with our hearts and with Spirit?
The term "class" means different things to different people. The best working definitions of each class I've found was written by Class Matters' author Betsy Leondar-Wright.
No matter where we fall on the spectrum, our challenge is to align our money with our hearts and Spirit. As a rich person (to be specific, lower owning class), however, Jesus' challenge is clear. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Yet, scripture goes on to say, with God, all things are possible.We live in a “transnational corporation” world where money is tangled with power, access, privilege and greed. In that context, whether we are rich or poor or somewhere in between, wealth can skew our sight, personal values and behavior. Distorted behaviors often have deep roots in assumptions below our awareness.
Looking back at our lives (possibly writing our own Money Autobiography) we can dig up the roots of our relationship with money and bring unconscious patterns to light. As our understanding increases, our financial behaviors begin to align more deeply with our values.
I love Wisdom & Money's focus on “money as the doorway to spiritual transformation.” For most of my adult life, as I’ve excavated my relationship with money in light of my faith and invited others to join me in that exploration, I’ve found this focal statement to ring true.
Working with money and faith wasn’t exactly what I pictured for my life’s work when I walked the halls of Midland High School. I even hated economics in college. I’ve since learned that the word economics comes from the Greek word oikonomia, meaning "management of a household.” Given that my household includes my global neighbors and all of our children and grandchildren, I guess it makes sense that economics would be at the heart of my vocation.
Rose Feerick, Nancy, Howard, Judy Bork
Harvest Time retreat circle gathering
Today’s pressing question: how do we stand steady while outdated economic structures continue to crumble?
We can’t return to an economy based on continued economic growth, as we’ve hit the earth’s ecological limits. We also can’t return to an economy which institutes systems and rules that support the building of wealth for some while undermining or ignoring abundance for many. In these unsteady times, it’s easy to let money fears rage, but fear will not help future generations.
Instead, we must learn to stand, even if our knees wobble, looking for the doorway into a new money paradigm wide enough to support us all, together.
I continue to dive deeper into class on my Big Topics Blog:
Economic Justice: Beyond Just Words
Our Financial Legacy
