Affluence

THURS., JUNE 25, 1987, 5:56 AM
FARM, STUDY

Your “affluent” trip is over, and you return to this comfortable but non-affluent home and place. You know that I generally do not speak favorably about affluence to you, and as Jesus, I did not live lavishly, and I spoke more against affluent living than for it. Yet I am for balance… “a time to… and a time to…” How do I speak this day?

Your sister’s home is not lavish or ostentatious but as compared to the homes of most of the earth’s inhabitants it is definitely affluent. The house is spacious, but the grounds are scanty. You see koa floors… and peeling paint… a swimming pool…, and minimal landscaping on two sides of the yard and a rotting fence. In monetary value that property is exceedingly more valuable than this one on which you pay and on which you live. For your values, however, (and I have affected these) you prefer the affluence of ample land in a place that does not attract great numbers of excited tourists.

Except for your stroll up and down Waikiki beach you did not have much contact with the tourist trade, but you know that this represents affluence. A few of those vacationers are there as a result of honest, hard work, but most are there because of inequality and their capacity to make money from others, even though most of it is legal in your culture. Again I withhold My approval of money spent lavishly when so many other needs for funds go unmet… needs that are truly related to the welfare of other humans and of the earth and its inhabitants. And I reaffirm to you that My desire is not that you build a larger and larger reserve, but that you give increasingly to causes that are worthy and need your (Our) support. Of these you have contact with many.

I want you to continue to live rather simply and to feel that this is the way to lead “the good life” in My service. Your culture produces so much that is not necessary… and is even silly… for good living. Resist temptations to add such luxuries to your life. Better yet, let Me help you prevent these from even being temptations.

You know the spiritual reason behind this general admonition. The focus of spirit should be outward, toward others, rather than inward, toward self. Luxuries are indulgences of self that set back spiritual development. Throughout human history I have called for sacrifices. The importance of these is in denying the needs… yes, even the needs… of self and giving good gifts to Me. Animal sacrifice seems foolish to you, but the sacrificing of a perfectly good animal, that could have provided nourishment or personal gain for its owner, symbolizes a person’s allegiance to and reliance on Me. Such an attitude is a fundamental base to the good life on earth, and is to be much preferred over financial security or shrewdness in buying and selling. You need not cut the throat of one of your calves and spread the blood on your altar, but you do need to appreciate, and practice, the value of sacrifice.