Material affluence is the real temptation

[Mark_Robert]

Think about it. Those in poverty can’t afford what the world has to offer. The pursuit of vice often costs money. For those who have little to no money, the prospects of this life are harsh and grim. For the destitute and impoverished, the promise of heaven or a better life in the hereafter holds great appeal. It’s offering hope to those without the hopes and consolations of this world.
On the other hand, those who are materially affluent CAN readily pursue the fascinations and pomps of the world. The world and its attractions are within their grasp because they have the monetary capacity and leisure time to make it happen. You can’t be tempted if the possibility of committing the sin isn’t there. Ironically, material affluence is probably more responsible for the loss of souls than any other external influence (besides satan and his minions of course). That is why the vow of poverty religious take is of such practical and symbolic importance. To renounce the world, it greatly helps to disavow money and the strong entanglements it can impose upon the individual. It’s also a sign to world that humanity’s essential destiny resides with God and not created things.

 

[KingAlfred]

Think about it. Those in poverty can’t afford what the world has to offer. The pursuit of vice often costs money. For those who have little to no money, the prospects of this life are harsh and grim. For the destitute and impoverished, the promise of heaven or a better life in the hereafter holds great appeal. It’s offering hope to those without the hopes and consolations of this world.
On the other hand, those who are materially affluent CAN readily pursue the fascinations and pomps of the world. The world and its attractions are within their grasp because they have the monetary capacity and leisure time to make it happen. You can’t be tempted if the possibility of committing the sin isn’t there. Ironically, material affluence is probably more responsible for the loss of souls than any other external influence (besides satan and his minions of course). That is why the vow of poverty religious take is of such practical and symbolic importance. To renounce the world, it greatly helps to disavow money and the strong entanglements it can impose upon the individual. It’s also a sign to world that humanity’s essential destiny resides with God and not created things.

At almost 51, I can honestly say money isn’t the issue. It’s energy. I’m just flat tired all the time.

 

[mommyof4]

At almost 51, I can honestly say money isn’t the issue. It’s energy. I’m just flat tired all the time.

I’m a few years younger than you, and I can vouch for that. I don’t want a lot of stuff anymore. I’m tired of cleaning it, finding a home for it, putting it away when the kids get it out. I want to live a very simple life now that I’m the ripe old age of 42.

 

[Flopfoot]

There are lots of temptations out there. Some of them have nothing to do with money.

 

[KingAlfred]

I’m a few years younger than you, and I can vouch for that. I don’t want a lot of stuff anymore. I’m tired of cleaning it, finding a home for it, putting it away when the kids get it out. I want to live a very simple life now that I’m the ripe old age of 42.

I hear you. I’m now more interested in getting rid of stuff, gradually giving it all away by the time I depart this life. I’d also like to sell our house, and live in an apartment, one that would be easy to maintain, with no yard. I want those who take care of my affairs after I’ve died to have very little to do. I want my dwelling place nearly empty. Owning a lot of stuff is a burden.

 

[puzzleannie]

At almost 51, I can honestly say money isn’t the issue. It’s energy. I’m just flat tired all the time.

Right-o
I can’t even get up the energy to do the sins I am tempted to do, that is the only thing that keeps me safe.
I am older than you, Sonny, and my priority is getting rid of stuff and reducing material wealth to a form most easily managed (by someone else) and living well below income. Stuff IMO is the biggest barrier to spiritual growth. Every trip to stuff-mart is a trip to the dark side. My world is a retirement community, has been for almost 10 years, plus dealing with our parent’s generation.

MIL is moving into assisted living this month. Her home, where her second husband was born, is a two-family, over 100 yrs old, crammed, house, dirt basement and garage with the detritus and “precious collectibles” of 100 yrs. In her mind each and every artifact has value and she is risking a stroke by worries that her kids and grandkids won’t come and cull the treasure pile for their own collections of stuff. She does not know this, but her daughters will probably roll a dumpster up outside as soon as she is safely out of the house. That is the end result of several lifetimes of gathering precious relics.

Her 2nd husband fretted constantly about his retirement savings–he had enough stashed to fund comfortable retirement for several people but was unable to spend it, not out of an evangelical poverty, but out of fear of want and need. It caused him daily worry and grief, very little material satisfaction. His money is going to adopted grandchildren who rejected their parents and family values. the end result of a lifetime of worry that followed him even into hospice care at the end of his life.

Our solution to accumulation pollution is to move about every 5 years, each time into a smaller home. Just took 8 boxes of books to the public library, and another 6 boxes to the parish library. And I had weeded out over 70 boxes before we moved down here. I don’t have a collectibles problem but I sure have a book addiction.

 

[Mark_Robert]

Nevermind. As usual most of you are missing the point of my post.

 

[MarieVeronica]

Nevermind. As usual most of you are missing the point of my post.

Mark, it appears to me… that you’re saying, at least in part… that the poor (i.e., those without “the stuff” of the world) are truly the blessed of God. Because, in not having the distractions of material possessions… they are more naturally prone to the spiritual? And that is the reason for the vow of poverty, among religious orders? Please, correct me if I’ve misunderstood. God bless.

 

[tessi]

For the destitute and impoverished, the promise of heaven or a better life in the hereafter holds great appeal. It’s offering hope to those without the hopes and consolations of this world.

That would be really nice but reality shows that many impoverished people are full with envy and resentment. It’s not easy to see lack of money as a blessing that prevents you form vice. I think that is why many saints were rich and they voluntarily chose to give up everything they had. There is a big difference between what you choose and what you are forced to accept.

 

[sawman]

Dear Mark,
Poor people are not tempted by the same temptations as the rich.
This not the same thing as not being tempted as much.
Envy and despair dog the steps of the poor.
Coldness of heart towards those who are better off.
Tendency to Judgementalism against those who have " got" theirs.
I’ve met good, Godly people of both persuasions.
I’ve met their opposites.
Sometimes I think that their is nothing worse than a poor man who’s gotten rich.

Anyway, God must love poor people, cause He made soo many of them.

One more thing, many people fall into both catagories. Many of those we would call rich were at one time in their life poor. There are cases of the opposite being true. Material wealth being a fleeting thing and all.

Just a pair of cents

 

[KingAlfred]

Right-o
I can’t even get up the energy to do the sins I am tempted to do, that is the only thing that keeps me safe.
I am older than you, Sonny, and my priority is getting rid of stuff and reducing material wealth to a form most easily managed (by someone else) and living well below income. Stuff IMO is the biggest barrier to spiritual growth. Every trip to stuff-mart is a trip to the dark side. My world is a retirement community, has been for almost 10 years, plus dealing with our parent’s generation.

MIL is moving into assisted living this month. Her home, where her second husband was born, is a two-family, over 100 yrs old, crammed, house, dirt basement and garage with the detritus and “precious collectibles” of 100 yrs. In her mind each and every artifact has value and she is risking a stroke by worries that her kids and grandkids won’t come and cull the treasure pile for their own collections of stuff. She does not know this, but her daughters will probably roll a dumpster up outside as soon as she is safely out of the house. That is the end result of several lifetimes of gathering precious relics.

Her 2nd husband fretted constantly about his retirement savings–he had enough stashed to fund comfortable retirement for several people but was unable to spend it, not out of an evangelical poverty, but out of fear of want and need. It caused him daily worry and grief, very little material satisfaction. His money is going to adopted grandchildren who rejected their parents and family values. the end result of a lifetime of worry that followed him even into hospice care at the end of his life.

Our solution to accumulation pollution is to move about every 5 years, each time into a smaller home. Just took 8 boxes of books to the public library, and another 6 boxes to the parish library. And I had weeded out over 70 boxes before we moved down here. I don’t have a collectibles problem but I sure have a book addiction.

Amen. Our ‘mound’ is growing slowly, but steadily, now that we’ve lived in one place for a decade. The fight is on to start dumping it. As a teacher, I accumulate tons of junk I can’t get rid of anyway.

 

[KingAlfred]

That would be really nice but reality shows that many impoverished people are full with envy and resentment. It’s not easy to see lack of money as a blessing that prevents you form vice. I think that is why many saints were rich and they voluntarily chose to give up everything they had. There is a big difference between what you choose and what you are forced to accept.

I agree. I work in a low-income part of town, and teach children of low-income families, for the most part. If Jesus were to return to the Planet and walk their streets, He wouldn’t like a lot of the behaviors He would undoubtedly see, such as gang activities and their many associated crimes. I’m not trying to be flippant.

 

[puzzleannie]

I think people did get the point of OP and are posting their reactions to your very apt thought, and their efforts to apply that reflection to their own lives. Since you did not ask a specific question we don’t know how you expect us to respond to your satisfaction.

Lack of attachment to material possessions does not have a lot to do with actual relative material poverty or affluence, since poor people can be just as caught up in the pursuit of wealth, envy and the other vices that brings. I do think affluent people, as Jesus warns, have a much harder time coming to a point where they can judge their relationship to property and remove its influence. For them especially actual physical removal from the world and what it represents may be the only spiritual path that will free them from this attachment.

 

[KingAlfred]

Well said.