Greed

Greed

I think that perhaps greed can sneak up on a person. You get one widget free…that feels good…more free widgets would feel better, right? Perhaps it’s like drugs or alcohol – you build up a tolerance to the good feeling that came with “free,” and need more to get that same high.

I understand stockpiling, I really do. But I also think that stockpiling can take on a life of its own – more feels better, and so we can’t stop acquiring more of what we already have enough of. So we see the posts asking “how many HOT WIDGETS did you get?” or the posts saying “ISO 100 of these coupons…." There's a pride factor there, also a competition factor.

There is a parable about this in the Bible: Luke 12: 15-21. A rich man has no place to store his productive crops, so he plans to tear down his barns and build larger ones…and then he says to his soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” But God says to the man…”You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?...So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

But then, I say to myself…”Physician, heal yourself.” (Luke 4:23). Because I see the seeds of this in my own self. When I head to the store to get something I already have plenty of, just because it’s a deal…when I expand my “extras” into yet another drawer or cabinet or closet…when I hesitate about giving something away because “after all, I’m down to 5 of those now.” I think it’s also easy to start feeling competitive – “How good am I at this game?” and then it’s no longer about feeding your family, but about pride…and greed. At some point, this leads to the kind of grabbing, snatching, shelf-clearing, take-advantage-of-the-generosity-of-others behavior that we all complain about. Because we all want to be the winner…the best.

But the best at what? I pray that I will remember “where your treasure is, there will your heart be, also.” (Luke 12:34).