Unfortunately, too many people become accustomed to making decisions purely based on financial gain, failing to realize that what matters most when they pass away won’t be how much money they left in the bank, but the legacy they left, the way they influenced those around them as well as their environment, family and friends. Definitely keep on getting paid, but put some thought into the deeper things in life. After all, it is man who has the power to make money.. but money can never make you a man. Money can never make you a satisfied woman either, so don’t fall for society’s trap of marginalizing women and forcing them to feel dependent on men for financial stability and a comfortable life. Each individual has inside the divine spark of infinite spirit, and this spirit suffers when we reduce our life purpose to a competition, a misguided ambition to accumulate wealth and possessions.

I love the story of the Buddha, the prince who, without hesitating, left his palace and all the benefits the royal life included, in order to travel the land, to be amongst the people, to share in their lives in an attempt to understand and alleviate their suffering, all human suffering. Such a decision could only be driven by the purest sense of compassion, which we are all able to achieve. Although I’m not suggesting we go to such an extreme as to leave our home and all our material possessions behind, the fact is that currently most of the population of planet Earth is living on the opposite pole, on the other extreme. We pass by homeless people in the streets, in developed nations such as Canada and the United States, and we don’t dare to look in their eyes. The shame would consume us, we would have to bear another person’s pain for one mere moment, and that in itself would be so undesirable to us that we glance away, or walk with our look fixed straight ahead, or we look at the floor.

We know there is much to change in this world, but we don’t know how it can change. We expect others to change it, and decide to ignore the uncomfortable truths of life, until we become desensitized to them. Many people have been emotionally hurt, and being unable to forgive, they decide, consciously or unconsciously, to shut themselves down emotionally, at least to other people. They don’t want to be taken advantage of ever again, so they don’t show any emotion, in order not to seem vulnerable, like easy prey. If forgiveness and love cannot be applied to such a situation, a very hostile and negative attitude will eventually develop towards other people. Once this attitude becomes habit, the affected person will be willing to do anything harmful to another being, if it leads to his or her own gain and satisfaction. As they affect others who feel betrayed and unfairly treated by life, many of their victims choose to take the same path of selfishness and emotional non-availability. The cycle continues forever, creating a worldwide web of insensitivity, violence and chaos. It is evident to us that things should not be this way at all.

Caring about others’ emotions and suffering is a natural part of the divine spark of God’s light which shines with integrity from us when we choose to follow it. However, when we choose to ignore our better judgement, declining life’s invitations to partake in charity, or in a simple act of kindness because it slightly intervenes with out planned routine or with our financial gain, we slowly lose our ability to hear the pure voice of intuition within us. This also happens whenever we choose material gain over acting with integrity, committing actions which will devastate others such as financial fraud or robbery, or murder in the hitman’s case. This voice is dumbed down by greedy and hostile thoughts of power, power which is needed due to a lack of life purpose, and perhaps low self-esteem. How can this power be achieved? The natural inclination of the human being is to turn to money in an attempt to reach the much desired power.

Sometimes wealth is gained honestly but in an unbalanced fashion. In such a case, the individual commits all his time, perhaps all his mental energy and life focus, and projects it onto his work, in order to make as much money as possible, to earn the highest commission, to rejoice at the next promotion, to shine bright above all his coworkers. This will eventually lead to a more luxurious, expensive lifestyle which will, in the person’s mind, grant them the happiness and joy they so hopelessly long for for so long. Others resort to illegal and immortal activities to achieve their goal of generating mass amounts of wealth. Hitmen happily accept high amounts of money for their service, which is actually a form of playing God and deciding they have the right to take another human life, since money is involved, and that is more important. Thieves steal from empty homes, or mug solitary people on the street, sometimes shooting or stabbing them for the sake of taking their wallet or phone. Politicians launder insane amounts of money to ensure they remain in power, to watch out for their interests, easily ignoring the crying and shouting voices of the dissatisfied, disappointed, angry and often times hungry nation which has been placed under their control.

This issue sadly affects much of the third world, having been a problem various times in my native country of Honduras, and currently devastating Venezuela. We scream and shout and rage and protest, but yet we choose these politicians to rule over us. We fight amongst ourselves and nurture vicious hatred in our hearts, for others who share different opinions than us or support different political parties. We act as if God has come to reign, and we must support him, we absolutely need our preferred candidate to come into power since they will work their magic and fix all the problems of an impoverished country, or further advance a developed nation generating more jobs and money for its citizens. If this is not accomplished during the duration of their term, we protest because nothing has changed. The problem is us, and we must realize it. We must initiate change in the way we act, instead of waiting for other to do so. We are basically funding the campaigns of these people who don’t give a damn about anything but their own financial and political affairs. We are promised tax cuts, benefits, higher wages, and time and time again we believe one fool after another, as if some magical man will step onto the scene and have all the solutions to our problems. We hold on to hope only to find we have been deceived once again.

That being said, we simply cannot blame politicians for their corruption, we must look at ourselves. If you would find a wallet on the street with an ID or a phone number to call, and you decide to keep it rather than return it because there is money inside, perhaps a quite enticing amount of money, then you must face the fact that you are just as corrupt as any politician you hate, since you decided to make the wrong decision at the expense of someone else’s well-being in a moment when you were not being watched. If we act in such a way, how can we blame politicians from stealing much greater amounts of money from us after we deliberately put them in a position in which they can easily steal and scam without being supervised and investigated.

We must stop putting people in power to rule over us, or allowing money to rule over us; we must realize that God is the sole authority of the universe, and God’s goodness, his greatness, is written in our spirit, a direct emanation of God’s divinity. All we need to do is listen to the voice of the spirit within us, to pray, to meditate, to feel what we know is right, and to act in a right manner. We can only eliminate poverty and corruption in this world when all of us decide to practice righteous living, in every aspect of life, including financially, since all our acts of corruption, however small, amount up and eventually corrupt the collective consciousness of our planet, something which obviously affects all of its inhabitants in a very negative way.
~ REBEL SPIRIT

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

~ Matthew 6:24