A Budget is a Moral Document
- Bridges are collapsing, and toll roads are replacing public roads.
- American public schools are underfunded while the U.S. funds weapons deals.
- The planet is melting while energy companies thrive.
- Children are going without healthcare while insurance company profits are higher than ever.
- The number of working poor increases by the day, while billionaires get tax cuts.
- Whole countries are in ruins while lavish resorts flourish.
- Hundreds of thousands have been killed in battles, while religiously funded genocide rages unfettered.
- Corporations reap huge profits from violence, while young soldiers leave their families to die.
I have long held that a budget is a moral document, but never has there been more evidence that a budget (yours, mine or America’s) can also be an immoral document! Finances are certainly not the only indicator of the nature of a society. Still, how we spend our money does suggest our ethical values…and right now, in the U.S. and other places, it seems our most important core value is “more for me.”
Look in your own checkbook. Think of your church’s or synagogue’s budget. Then your city’s, your state’s. Are we taking care of each other or just ourselves? Do we stop when we have enough and share the rest? What does it say about our priorities? What in the world would God think?
Now consider your city’s budget or your state’s or our budget in Washington! If the constitution reflects our core values — our hopes and dreams for this amazing country of ours, then our government budgets are our actuation of those hopes. No less a moral document than our great Bill of Rights!
So how are we doing — or put another way, how moral are we? How do the things that every citizen should count on (education, healthcare, a living wage, Social Security, roads and bridges, air, water, safety) stack up against the monuments to our greed (tax loopholes, corporate lobbies, special interests, pet projects, military aggression for oil, etc.)?
Isn’t it time we were honest with ourselves? Our personal budgets, corporate budgets and government budgets don’t lie. We have let ourselves believe gluttony is OK. We have told each other that we deserve what we have–that the pursuit of ”success” excuses who we have to hurt to get it.
For those of us who try to practice InSpiritry, this is a disturbing time. We know the Greater Good can only be served when our finances follow our intentions, but then we wait for someone else to do something about it.
Let’s find the courage to take actions that serve not one…not some…but all!
With this in mind, I wrote a poem a few months ago for a dear friend–a Peace Corps volunteer, a husband and father, a church member, a federal judge, a great guy. He has never forgotten that we serve each other! Here’s an excerpt from the poem:
Ethics
In this time of plenty
there is no greater danger
than our comfort.
The most menacing poison hides
in the very cups at the banquet
of our acquired wealth.
:
:
This day as our blessing,
let us look round the table
of those present in our lives
and swear to God and each other
that we will honor justice
by celebrating the saints
whose lives are spent sharing
with others the holy bounty
of their simple, earthly portion.
InSpiritry Calls Us to Courageous Action!
You can be a blessing!
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