Article March 31, 1997 Issue

Do you need more money?

Barbara Beth Whitewater

A woman had just started a new job as a bookkeeper of a nursing care facility. When payday came, another eight thousand dollars was needed to pay everyone in full. Although much money was owed to the business, it seemed that many people were not able to pay. The bookkeeper was instructed to divide what was there among the employees. Many of the supervisors held back their own paychecks so that the amount for the other workers would be as large as possible. As the bookkeeper handed out the partial checks, she was deeply touched by the gratitude and faith of her fellow employees. She knew that they had worked honestly and earnestly and that God would never let them down.

After handing out the checks, the bookkeeper returned to her desk, which was up against a large window that looked out onto several giant live oak trees and lush tropical foliage. She thought to herself: "There must be some reason that I'm seeing all this green. After all, there has been a drought in this state for several months, and yet there is no evidence of that here." This led her to think differently about the lack of money.

She looked down at the company checkbook on her desk and found herself thinking of the checks as "thank-you" notes, expressing gratitude for all the goods and services received by the business. She knew she could never really have too little gratitude, so therefore she could never be depleted of what was needed to express that gratitude.

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