Invest in what's important
Low cost. Even in languages other than English, those two words seem to be just about everywhere. Low-cost travel, services, goods ... so often it feels as if everything is approached in this manner. At first glimpse, that’s a fine mind-set—after all, who doesn’t want to pay less?
But this mentality also has some hidden aspects that can be detrimental to one’s own well-being and to humanity’s collective welfare. In the business world, there’s the danger of “cutting the branch where one is sitting” via cost-killing strategies that ultimately hurt investments. Few would argue with the concept that a “low-cost” approach can be detrimental when taken to extremes. How much better, instead, to have a virtuous circle of blossoming, a recognition of what investments produce the most good and enable individuals and economic activity to grow! It’s certainly worth considering the concepts of value and significance from a spiritual perspective.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, wrote about value in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, under the marginal heading “Assistance in brotherhood”: “God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud” (p. 518 ). When we look to God as the source of our well-being, and focus on supplying the needs of others where we can, we begin to understand that spiritual qualities such as honesty, integrity, and selflessness truly form the basis of our supply; they point the way to economic solutions that bless everyone.
How, then, can we find a more spiritual sense of value? And how can this purified mind-set inform our day-to-day decisions?
I’ve found that removing fear is an important first step. When we worry that we lack time or money, we can pray to recognize that God protects and cares for each of His ideas, giving each one exactly what he or she needs to thrive. This recognition gives us the courage to defend and stand for what has value, real substance, and significance.
Some beautiful images from the Bible remind us that God is sustaining us, no matter what economic conditions we face. “For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. So the Lord alone did lead him” (Deuteronomy 32:9–12 ). An understanding of God’s sustaining power gives us the vision to invest our time, talents, and money wisely, even though we or others may worry that we cannot afford it.
An understanding of God’s sustaining power gives us the vision to invest our time, talents, and money wisely.
Once fear has been quieted, we can listen for and follow God’s direction. Maybe we will be led to cherish small endeavors around us, support a neighbor’s budding small business, or invest in education for ourselves or others. When we endeavor to follow God’s direction in investing our time, energy, or finances, we’ll always be blessed as a result. God’s messages always bring us closer to Him—perhaps through a deeper discovery of Soul in the arts; of Mind through academics; of Spirit or Love in humanitarian engagement; of Life in a resolve to keep close contact with family; of Principle in rejecting any form of dishonesty; of Truth in pursuing faithfulness in friendships. These decisions all require some sort of commitment in our lives; yet the “returns on investment” are extraordinary.
Some years ago a friend of mine made the decision to invest in the education of her children at a time when money was tight. She and her husband spent a substantial portion of their combined salaries to send their children to private schools because of those schools’ high quality. During all those years they never went on holidays as their neighbors were doing. But years later, one of their children was able to get a very good job because of the good effects of the schools she’d attended, and was appointed to positions in several parts of the world, where the family was then able to visit. That courageous decision, prompted by prayer, proved to be a very good investment in the family’s future.
Our prayers to “invest wisely” shouldn’t be limited to financial matters—God richly provides for His children in all areas. Mrs. Eddy reminds us that real substance, that which truly sustains us and shapes our experience, is purely spiritual: “Truth, Life, and Love are substance, as the Scriptures use this word in Hebrews: ‘The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ ” (Science and Health, p. 468 ).
We can pray wholeheartedly any time we face a difficult “investment” decision. Sometimes decisions that are divinely inspired can really impact our lives or our finances. When we reason quietly and master fear, we are recognizing that our lives are under God’s harmonious government. Our prayerful efforts to detect what has value to us will make us invest in honest, spiritually impelled work, which will bring about virtuous cycles of budding and blossoming.
