Money and Racquetball

Teresa’s recent blog (see March 8) got me thinking. I live in the richest country in the world and have a better quality of life than at 99% of the world’s population. (If you are reading this blog, you probably do too. Ninety-nine percent of the world’s population works for less than $15 per hour and 90% earn less than $1 per hour.) Teresa makes the delightful point that wealth is not a prerequisite for love, for that feeling of coming home, of being a member of the family.

Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23) One interpretation of this statement is not that there is something inherently evil about money. It is just that money and wealth clog up the arteries of time and making it harder for us to pay attention to what really matters in life. Money demands attention. Material goods demand upkeep and attention. In the book, Your Money or Your Life, readers are asked to examine how we spend our life energy, how much fulfillment we receive from the life energy we spend and if the life energy we spend is in alignment with our values and life purpose. I think that’s one side to Jesus’ meaning: with wealth, we don’t (can’t?!) spend as much time focused on what really matters.

With this in mind, I tried to think of the last time I had the feeling of “being home” and simply being loved and happy like Teresa experienced. Luckily for me, I felt that way about a week ago when I was playing racquetball. (If you have not heard, racquetball rocks!) There were too many people wanting to play for the number of courts. So, my friend and I agreed to let a couple of men join us for doubles. This felt like a sacrifice because one of the men made me uncomfortable a long time ago and the other man never smiled and was always hard-core serious when he played. But, something magical happened. We laughed and played and teased and cheered each other on. There were no boundaries or egos. We just accepted one another completely as we were. I had the feeling of “being home” like Teresa described.

This feeling did not need money. It was consistent with my values of friendship and health. And yet, unlike Teresa’s experience, money did undergird the experience. If 90% of the world earns less than $1 per hour, I spend almost 8 days of their wages every MONTH on membership fees. And, I use a racquet I got on sale for $150 to hit a ball that costs me $1. I wear $89 shoes and a coordinated dri-fit outfit made by people who probably are in that $1 per hour salary range.

Even though my job IS a ministry and I can easlity rationalize that what earns me money is consistent with my values, I can’t help but wonder sometimes: am I one of the wealthy Jesus was talking about? Are you?