I was talking with my dear friend Wyatt the other day about money. Neither of us is wealthy, by any means, but since we have prioritized authenticity to money, we accept whatever comes with gratitude and courage. On this particular day, Wyatt said something very interesting.
“I think a lot of people use money to avoid their tests in life.”
Both of us have lived, at some point in our lives, in a spiritual community, where it’s impossible to hide your defects from others. Especially ones you’ve never noticed before. In fact, you are so constantly reminded of your defects, living in such close quarters with the same people over a number of years, that you are eventually forced to face them. And there is no better place to do so than in a spiritual community, where there is no shortage of kind souls, slow to judge and quick to listen.
We both know that if either of us had enough money – and knowing our innate laziness in looking inside ourselves – we would probably be living in a castle somewhere, free from challenges and “no”-sayers. Our “community” would be made of employees, and everyone would do what we want (because we would pay them), and never criticize us (because we’d fire them), and we’d never have to grow a day in our lives.
So in a way, you can see why so many of us have chosen to accept occasional periods of poverty in this life. It forces us to face the nitty-gritty
It helps us face ourselves.
Joy Biscuits 