A Soulful Journey

An old joke that was repeated in Russia: Ivan has a goat and Boris does not.  Boris is resentful. One night Boris is visited by his guardian angel.  "I see your problem," she says.  "Now I will give you what you want." Boris brightens. "You mean," he exclaims, "you're going to kill Ivan's goat?" Work and pray for what you need. Do not undermine others for what they have.  This is what is meant by, "Do not covet."

"In the old days, when people were poor they lived poor.  Today they live rich.  I've discussed this with many wage earners in the eight-to-ten-thousand-dollar-a- year class and, in most cases, they admit that almost everything they own, they don't..."  - Groucho Marx, Memoirs How little has changed in the decades since Groucho wrote those words.  We need to live within our means, not look over our should with envy at those who have more and live a life of debt.

“Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature it sympathize with a friend’s success.”   - Oscar Wilde Competitiveness and jealousy are companions that undermine real friendship and ultimate happiness.

We often think that the rich have it all.  It is not necessarily so.  Sometimes their burdens are equal or greater than their assets. A well-known contractor once confided to a friend of his. “Everybody thinks that because the contractor runs around was always flustered, he’s doing wonderful business. They are under the impression that he is making buckets full of gold in every enterprise he undertakes.  I tell you it isn’t true. There is not one job that one does not lose money on.   Earning a living is out of the question completely.” ”Tell me then,” his friend asked, “where do you get so much money if lose all the time?” “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” the contractor whispered. “Each time I take on a larger enterprise, so that I will have enough money to cover the previous one.” ”But it must come to an end sometime,” the friend replied. Sure,” replied the contractor, “with the help of God one can suddenly ...

It is easy to envy those who have more than we possess.  The Mishna, however warns, "the more flesh, the more worms." A parable: A family climbs aboard a train.   They have no car, no place to call home either.   Each member carries his own suitcase.   The parents have their heavy suitcases full of a lifetime’s accumulations.   The children bear only small packages. The little ones have a future.   And that future is worth all the massive suitcases in the world. Do not look behind you.  It is past.  It is gone.