Greed's Grasp

In church on Sunday, one of the readings was about greed.  It said that greed is idolatry.

So let's just look at this "deadly" sin and see what it all means.  Greed by definition according to thefreedictionary.com is:  "An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth."

Because of this excessive desire, we are putting the acquisition of material things over everything else, including God.  Obtaining an overabundance of material things equals idolatry because at that point, we basically kneel at the altar of materialism.  Material things replace God in our lives.

When I worked at the newspaper all those years ago, the editorial page was an important feature.  My boss had his column, "Never worked and never will."  This was a nod to the fact that when we are doing the kind of work that we love, it doesn't feel like work at all.  He was one of the lucky ones who found just that kind of work.  And so was I. 

So when he told me that it was my time for a column on the editorial page and I had to find a name for it, I had to really give it some thought.  My first inkling was that it should be something from my faith experience -- something from the Bible.  From Ecclesiastes, I happened upon a reading that stated that all is vanity -- a chasing of the wind.  "Chasing the Wind" became my column's name -- a reference to the fact that we should be humble creatures and rely on the Lord.  When we do otherwise, all of the things we try to do are like chasing the wind, rather impossible. 

On another website, agodman.com, I found a reference to the quote about vanity that frames it a little better -- If we do not find our content with God, then all is vanity.  Makes sense to me.

Back to the reading from Sunday.  Vanity and greed walk hand in hand.  Carole King wrote, "You're so vain.  You probably think this song is about you."  Then she auctioned off the name of the person she wrote the song about and gave the money to charity.  Critics panned the song, saying it was one of the worst ever written.  I kind of like it -- and like the fact that it brought the word "vain" back into circulation.  We don't hear much about vanity these days -- because "I'm worth it."

We don't hear much about greed either.  The reading was about a wealthy man who had a huge silo of grain, and he wondered what he would do with another bountiful crop.  So he tore the first silo down and built a larger one to store the grain.  He was saving it for his future meals, when what he really had was only that last day to live.  It is indeed food for thought, for each one of us.  This life is all about keeping our priorities where they belong.

Thank you, God, for forgiving me all of my sins!!