So writes Murray Wardrop of the Telegraph. This is, of course, not entirely shocking, despite the phrasing of this paragraph. To quote the very old cliché, "money can't buy you happiness".
Every day newspapers, news bulletins and blogs are filled with sad or depressing news: more cuts are being made, another young person has lost their life due to mindless violence, or another disaster or dictator somewhere abroad has wrecked thousands of lives.
What is the cure to this? If everyone were to suddenly become a bit richer, would this make society much happier? Somehow I strongly doubt this. We in the West are, despite rising unemployment and so on, incredibly fortunate. To have permanent homes, regular food and clean running water puts us in a very fortunate minority. To have cars, televisions, computers, mobile phones and iPods makes us really incredibly wealthy. As a country we've been fortunate enough to enjoy such benefits for many years; yet this hasn't really made us much happier.
So, is it time for a big rant about how we're terrible people for having homes and food and gadgets? And money in general? Well, I'm not going to. Material things aren't, in my belief, intrinsically evil. On the contrary; food and water are necessities and the fact that we are privileged enough to enjoy them almost obliges us to use them - though sensibly and with unceasing gratitude.
They become problematic, however, when people seek from them happiness and fulfilment (as seems to be implied by the shock that material increase hasn't made us happier). Such ideas can also be found in the New Testament. Paul did not condemn money itself, but writes:
'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil...' (1 Timothy 6:10)
Money itself is not necessarily the source of wickedness, therefore, but the love thereof. Preceding this well-known verse is a warning about the desire for wealth:
'But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.' (1 Tim 6:9)
Jesus also warns that one cannot serve to masters - both God and wealth. Again, this is not necessarily a condemnation of wealth, but of the idolisation of wealth, or the prioritisation of money above all else.
So I've rambled on about not falling in love with money and not looking to it for happiness and fulfilment...but what is the solution? If I could give a definitive answer, I feel I would be famous by now. But a few suggestions of things to contemplate can be found from the source of wisdom that is the Bible. What did ancient Israelites claim would bring them happiness?
"Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding" (Prov 3:13)
"O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you" (Psalm 84:12)
"Happy is one who finds a friend, and one who speaks to attentive listeners" (Ecclesiasticus 25:9)
"Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days will be doubled" (Ecclesiasticus 26:1)
Clearly these ancient writers in much more primitive and less materialistic societies could actually grasp something of what led to happiness. I would not attempt to suggest that here lies the solution to all happiness; but pursuing such things as listed here - God, wisdom and knowledge, love and friendship - is far more likely to bring about a sense of fulfilment and lasting satisfaction than anything material.
No comments:
Post a Comment