Who said Money is the root of all evil-an old belief

I always heard that money is the root cause of all the problems. Where there is money, there is evil. Money is the synonyms of corruption. We get all the news about politicians and bureaucrats to indulge in scams and later on gain popularity in media headlines. Money takes your consciousness to the highest level of greediness and makes you the animal. Money is really BAD and it is SIN to have plenty of money.

How many of you think on these lines. And do you remember who said money is the root of all evil?

The Flip Side of Scarcity

Yesterday I was passing by my local Railway Station and I noticed that a man was shivering abnormally, maybe due to cold. He was not wearing any slipper, and wrapped himself with rugged jute bag, lying on the roadside under a tree and without sufficient clothes. To me, he appeared as a poor beggar in his fifteen.

To my surprise, a passerby offered him some bread and that poor person grabbed it like a most precious thing in his life. Maybe he has not eaten anything for a long time and was very hungry. Now I realized that he was shivering due to weakness and not cold. His appearance lowered my mood with deep sorrow and I felt very uneasy.

I was so involved in watching the person that unknowingly I went deep into my concentration and thought what if that person had just enough money to feed him and was able to look after his health? Here the money was an essential commodity necessary to run his routine life.

The wealth perspective

My imagination was continuously exchanging thoughts and another scenario dropped into my thought bucket. I remembered one of my close relative who retired from Defense Services at an early age with a handsome pension. After retirement, he joined a big Multinational Company. During Defense Services he used to be away from home and family for months. He took this second job because it was merely on a walkable distance from his house. So he was very happy to be close to his family. Today his wife is still continuing her profession as a teacher in the convent school and two of his sons are also employed with reputed companies. A perfect happy family. Their monthly take home family salary is in seven figures and still counting even more.

This family takes compulsory vacations once in three months; go for regular weekend gatherings with friends and relatives. They eat healthy food and always prefer organic food items whatever the cost may be. They throw lavish parties not even for themselves but also for their staff and colleagues. Their work environment and habits are so healthy that they rarely fall sick and if someone has any health issue they go for the best treatment in town. Still, their bank balance remains healthy and powerful enough to meet any eventuality.

How much is too much

These two opposite situations forced me to think if money is good or bad and is it the root cause of all evil. I went through a lot of self-discussions, read a lot on how much is too much. Tried to look every nook and inch of this thought. After going through all the aspects what I feel like to say is money is neither good nor bad but an essential commodity to run the life safely with pleasure – both internal and external. At one time or another, most of the people might have experienced in life, the scarcity of money. Even big corporate houses are not left behind and have gone through this experience at least once in a lifetime when the business graph was steep downwards and low. The situation changes with time and they are in the comfortable position now. So everyone knows how it feels like to be without money.

The Abundance

In a situation when money is overflowing in our life, what role we play with money is of most importance. When we are in the pilot seat and have the ability to change the circumstances, then how do we react to the present situation, that is important.

I would say not to allow money to dictate your life, but rather use it as a means to justify a higher purpose in your life! If money is overflowing, use it to help the needful who needs it more than you but has no resources to generate it. Maybe you can sponsor a child to complete his basic education or you may think to help some elder person with the treatment of his illness, which he may not be able to afford. And why look outside. Just make a list of your friends and relatives and check how many are in need of financial support.

You should be thankful to the creator who empowered you with wisdom and resources so you are able to help less fortunate. Hence, in my opinion, money is not the root cause of all evil, but a very strong weapon to provide a shield to the humankind so they can fulfill their purpose of being human.

What Grandmother said

Lastly, I recall my grandmother who was having a lady for domestic help from many years to clean the utensils and help with washing the clothes. I remember that my grandmother always offers her something to eat before starting work. Does that food matters a lot to her, or it is just the routine practice, I always wondered. As a child I asked my grandmother that why she always does it, does she offer the food which is left by the family or she intentionally prepares a little extra for her. My Grandmother smiled and replied sweetly that,”Every grain has its owner. We are not offering her anything, but the food selected her. The universe created a situation so our maid could have it in our house”. I really could not understand what she was saying but could imagine that anything extra which we do not need can be utilized by someone needy.

So we can say that money is not the root cause of all evil but a necessity like good health, without which it is difficult to serve our purpose in society as good human being. Please leave your comments and also check out my other blogs to understand how to earn that little extra which makes us comfortable to help the needy.

Yours in abundance,

Gaurav Gaur.