church shades

We all know the complex relationship any institution or business has with money and numbers. Sustainability! Critical mass!

When it comes to religion or even spirituality and money, it doesn’t take long for an unhealthy attitude about money and numbers to find its way into the mix. Money has a strange power, and when blended with our unwholesome attitudes about it, its strange power only increases.

I know all about it. Most of us have this idealistically purist notion that somehow spirituality and money don’t belong together. I used to. I don’t any longer. You name any great spiritual hero and each and every one of them needed money or the things money could buy. You know the famous saying concerning Gandhi: “It takes a lot of money to keep Gandhi poor!” Jesus with his women supporters and a treasurer. Buddha with his patrons. Mother Teresa with her philanthropists. Krishnamurti with his benefactors. I could go on and on, but you get the point.

You can quickly tell who’s in it for the money. You can also tell who’s in it for the passionate purpose of helping others, in which case money is seen as a useful tool.