Why Enough is Never Enough

Several months ago, I was working in the church gift shop during a particularly slow time.  I spent the hour looking through all that they had for sale with most of my interest going to the bookshelf.  Several of the books looked intriguing, but the one I decided to take home with me was "Why Enough is Never Enough:  Overcoming Worries about Money - a Catholic Perspective."  I was interested in it as our family was dealing with a situation concerning someone else's greed and I thought that this book would help me understand better why some people hoard all of their money.

I had a few other books to finish before I started my new book, but once the New Year rang in, I decided that I wanted to make it a priority.  In the end I was incredibly glad that I did.  The book not only explained greed, but also almsgiving, generosity and envy.  It didn't just help me understand better the issue our family was having but also made me give a lot more thought to my own ideas about money and giving.  Doug and I believed a lot of the author's perspective, especially on helping those in need and giving to our own family when they could use the help instead of accumulating great wealth to pass on to them once we have died.  According to the book, having a million dollars when you die just means that you didn't do enough for others in your lifetime.  That was our attitude as well.

Finishing the book this week couldn't have been better timing.  Meg called me to let me know that a family member asked her a tax question about getting the most out of what they had given to the church this year.  The question fit perfectly into the chapter "generosity and virtue" which explained that giving was supposed to be about the joy of helping someone else not about what you could get out of it.  Scamming the system and trying to get more than your share wasn't actually part of God's plan.  Thankfully, Meg already understood that and said that she wouldn't be available to help.