There is a story I once heard about God talking to a child.\u00a0 The child asked, \u201cGod, what is a million years on earth like for you?\u201d and God replied, \u201cIt\u2019s like one minute in Heaven.\u201d\u00a0 So, the little boy asked, \u201cGod, what is a million dollars on earth like for you?\u201d and God replied, \u201cIt\u2019s like one dollar in Heaven.\u201d\u00a0 So, the little boy asked, \u201cGod, can I borrow a dollar?\u201d and God said, \u201cSure, son\u2026.in a minute.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Weber explored in his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,<\/em> that in the Protestant belief system, hard work helped you achieve your Heavenly status.\u00a0 And with limited opportunities to get into Heaven, working hard was the key.\u00a0 Per the author, religious devotion is usually accompanied by a rejection of worldly affairs, including the pursuit of wealth and possessions.[1]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n According to Wikipedia, capitalism is an economic system based on personal ownership of the means of your profit potential.\u00a0 Franklin D. Roosevelt stated: \u201cHappiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Weber noted that the spirit of capitalism does not refer to the spirit in the metaphysical sense but rather a set of values, including the spirit of hard work and progress.\u00a0 Religious devotion is often accompanied by a rejection of worldly affairs, including the pursuit of wealth and possessions.[2]<\/a> \u00a0Yet, Benjamin Franklin coined a famous quote that \u2018time is money\u2019 \u2013 meaning time is equivalent to money.\u00a0 But is time really money?\u00a0 Not according to author Jonathan Swift, who stated that \u2018a wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart.\u2019<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In Matthew Kelly\u2019s book, Resisting Happiness<\/em>, he explored that when God looks at your resume, he won\u2019t be looking at how much you make, but he will be looking at your availability to serve Him.\u00a0\u00a0 He noted in his book:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u2018There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely into His hands.\u00a0 People do not understand what they could become if they would let themselves be formed by His grace, if they did not ruin His plans by resisting the work which He wants them to do.\u2019[3]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n People are looking for their purpose in this world.\u00a0 They are often just looking for the best way to find peace for their trials and tribulations on this earth. \u00a0I know that in my counseling world, my clients come to me and want a quick fix<\/em> <\/strong>to their pain, their confusion, andtheirearthly struggles. \u00a0Through my person-centered approach, I believe that often people have the answers already within them through the grace of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 They just need the right questions asked to see a new perspective! <\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n So, working hard isn\u2019t always the answer to finding success and achieving one\u2019s calling.\u00a0 Poet Felix Dennis once stated that \u2018people who get trapped into the tunnel vision of making money think that is all there is to life.\u2019\u00a0 But there is so much than protestant ethics and the pursuit of capitalism.<\/em>\u00a0 Sometimes it just takes asking the correct questions to find the right answers to God\u2019s plan for our lives.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n [1]<\/a> Max Weber, Peter Baehr and Gordon C. Wells, ed.\u00a0The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit of Capitalism and Other Writings (<\/em>New York: Penguin Books, 2002)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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