I've had several jobs during my short time as an adult, but at none have I thought so much about money, until now. I work at a fast food restaurant, you've probably heard of it. All I'll say about it is - I'm not lovin' it. But over the course of each shift it is not unusual for hundreds, maybe even thousands of pounds to go through my hands, in and out of the till. Today this had me thinking - why do we love money so much? Paper and metal with pictures of inspirational and governmental figures, perhaps maybe a thought provoking quote. This stuff sparks momentary pleasure, but it also sparks anger, depression, anxiety. Money has become such a big part of our culture that we sometimes get it confused with the things that really matter, the things that don't cost anything.
I was in Greece. There was sunshine, sand and plenty of ice cream. And cats. I was there with my friends and my sister. Although I was in a beautiful part of the world, I had a nagging stresser following me around that week. Out of a series of different events, I was the person with the least money in our party. Now I’m not saying the fact that I had the least money was the stresser on it’s own, but instead that when the group wanted to do something I had to speak up - “You can, but I can’t afford it.” “I’d love to but I’m nearly out of money.” I have amazingly beautiful and loving friends and sister, and so when this occurred they willingly offered to pay for me. This was the cause of my stress. “No, I can’t let you. That’s not fair to you. That’s your money! I feel bad” I will never forget the moment when we were in a shop and I commented on something I thought was nice “If you like it, Beck, I’ll buy it for you!” “No no, I don’t want you to waste your money on me.” The next sentence nearly knocked me off my feet.
“Money comes and goes. I won’t always have money, but our friendship will last forever.”
How true is this? Material items are a part of life, but they are not and should not be our life. Sure, it would’ve been ideal if I had more money and I could pay for myself when I holiday with my friends. But maybe next time I’ll be the one with the most money (lol). Would I say to my poorer friend “You should have saved up more for this! I’m not paying for you. I won’t waste my money on you.” or would I show the mercy that was shown to me. “Hey don’t worry, pal, I got this.” Money is just money. It is not pertinent to our salvation, but the way we treat others is.
And now, for your entertainment, here is a trick that you can do if you ever can set your hands on some British Pounds.
