Being Rich is Difficult

My brothers, how many times have we asked ourselves how we  or heard friends express the desire for a closer relationship with God?  How about just to be a better man?  How many alters must we kneel before and how many truths must we find in the rituals until the answer breaks through our hard hearts and we begin to relax our necks and listen to the yearnings of our hearts?  A story might give us some enlightenment.  (Dark letter emphasis is mine.)

"A certain ruler asked him (Jesus), "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone." (My emphasis) "You know the commandments: 'You shall not commit adultery; You shall not commit murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; you shall love your her and mother.' "  He replied, "I have kept all these since my youth  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, " There is still one thing lacking; sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me."   But when he heard this he became very sad; for he was very rich.  Jesus looked at him and said. "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."  (Luke 18: 18-25, The New Revised Standard Version of the Oxford Annotated Bible)

So,  how many times have we read this Bible passage or how many times have we heard the story?  It is not easy for rich men to learn, either.  We hear this and instantly begin blanking it out as we know that it is not about us.  We are not rich.  It should be easier for us to get into heaven, right?  Sorry to tell you this but each one of us is rich beyond belief and those riches may well keep us from an companionship with God and all of our fellow citizens.  Ah, you will soon think, I do not have money, cars, homes, vacations, boats, motor homes, or airplanes.  How can I be considered rich?

As we have discovered through these series of articles, we are talking about two different things.  Material riches does not interest God in the least.  He does not understand why those who have material riches do not share them with their fellow man so all can be more comfortable, have a place to stay, food and water, and heat; the material things that we need to just exist on this earth.  He gives us so very much there should be enough to go around.  What God considers riches is loving and being loved and caring and being cared for.  He stated it very clearly when He said that we should love him with all our hearts and that we should love our brothers as ourselves.

When we Freemasons say that we "Take good men and make them better" this is what is meant.  We attempt to help each individual look deeply inside himself and discover material things are not riches.  They are not even a way of keeping tract.  They are just things that enable us to keep going until we reach our goals of walking with God.  We need to share those things with our brothers so make the trip a bit easier for everyone.  The sharing of those things helps a great deal toward moving our minds and steps in the direction to companionship with God.  Now we need to take the steps that will move us toward our goal.

We must learn to love. God.  Each other.  How do your children attempt to learn what is good for them to do?  They copy what you do.  In the same way we must learn to copy what God does and learn to be like Him.  After a while of learning about God and His way, we can learn to trust Him and believe what He says without arguing and trying to prove Him wrong.  But this alone is not enough.  We must also learn to love others.

Every relationship is a relationship of love.  There is not just a single type of love but a vast array of love to fit every occasion.  They will all be important.  Try to sit down for a few moments and consider what would be your list of importance of love relationships.  Something like;  God, family, community, state, nation, other nations, and all living things.  Now for the fun part.  Try to decide why you chose the list in the order you did.  Are you sure it is right.  Make changes.  Work at it until you are satisfied.  Check it from time to time to see if your priorities have changed.

You are truly rich with time, love, and purpose.  What else is needed.  If we take the time away from materialism and apply it to our loving relationships with God and others, how can we lose?  It is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven because material things can be so entertaining that we are blinded to what is really important.  The choice and the work must be made and accomplished by each individual person but the trip does not have to be lonely.  Support is available at the Lodge of your choice.  Good brothers are there to help you to see your opportunities and to support your choices.

Put your trust in God and you will fear no danger as you follow your conductor about the task of becoming the better you.

This article appeared in The Missouri Freemason magazine in 2012.