…What are the three things you should not talk about at a dinner party? Money, Religion and Politics. Why? These are three subjects that tend to separate people – break them into factions, make them want to hurl mashed potatoes at each other’s faces.
And I must admit the adage speaks some truth. I have watched the glow of
the Thanksgiving ritual plummet into the abyss of Democrat vs.
Republican, Catholic vs. Unitarian Universalist. We all made it out
unharmed, save some nervous twitching that happens anytime the words
Turkey and Socialist, or Stuffing and Neo-Conservative meet in the
middle of a sentence. Regardless I don’t think I would step lightly into
the same fray again.
But in our religious community, we may be better prepared to engage
those difficult subjects. We covenant together to affirm the inherent
worth and dignity of all people, we recognize that learning does not
come without listening and openness, and we know that we are all in this
together, no matter our diversity, whether that diversity be of
opinion, faith, or financial status. At least this is what we hope our
faith will enable us to accomplish.
In the coming months the topic of money will gain a prominent role in
our community’s dialogue. We will be collecting for our annual
Stewardship Drive in March and you can’t really collect money without
talking about it. “Please put the … you know what, in the hat,” or “We
won’t be able to … you know what, for our beautiful new building if we
don’t … you know what” or “I plan to … you know what, because that is
…you know what percent of my annual … you know what.” Even if we don’t
dare say the words, the meaning of our dialogue will surface – we need a
certain amount of money to achieve the certain goals we have deemed
appropriate for our congregation.
There I said it! But what is more important to me, and I hope will be
more important to us, is that we can, if we are courageous, have an
open, honest, respectful dialogue about money … yes, even money. If
anyone can do it, I know we can, the religious values we hold dear ask
as much.
So to ground our discussions I have two thoughts to propose. One, money
does not equal worth, no matter what the jewelry store commercials
imply. And two, Money is only a tool. It takes on worth when you use it
to create something meaningful for yourself or your world. And you can
use any amount of money to create meaning. You will hear me say this
again, but it is not how much you give – it is why you give, and what
you hope your giving will accomplish. It is the love that you put in
the giving and the dreams you bring to life with your investment.
Yes, we are hoping to collect a certain amount, so we may live into our
dream of a larger space and a growing congregation. Yes, we will be
asking you to give. Yes, some of you will be in a place to give high
dollar amounts, others will be in a place to give small dollar amounts.
All gifts are worthy; all will go to creating worth, if we ground our
giving and receiving in love.
Let’s talk openly about money, and let’s listen to the hopes and the
concerns that surface with the same openness. We are all in this
together. If we remember that we may have the courage to move our
conversations about money away from assumptions and into the deep space
where faith is built; We may be able to really talk about money – what
it is – a tool, and what it can do – help us create meaning in our
lives… and we may be able to do all of this without throwing any mashed
potatoes!
Yours in Faith,
Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael
