"... in the fields where the shining stones abound, the fiercest and most frequent battles are fought."
Wherever there is great wealth there is the potential for great turmoil. The root of that turmoil is greed.
Webster's dictionary defines greed as, "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something than is needed."
Our culture has adopted the idea that a little is never enough. Everything must be new; it must be the latest and greatest. We purchase a particular item or piece of technology thinking that it will somehow complete our lives, and it may seem to. It may seem to make our lives complete, until a new edition or version comes out. Then, all of the sudden, we become dissatisfied. A second generation iPod Nano is no longer good enough, we need a third generation. Before long that no longer satisfies either and we need an iTouch. We then find ourselves stuck in a rut, a habitual cycle of dissatisfaction and discontent. Erich Fromm, a psychologist, said that "greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction."
When we think of greed we most often think of a lust for gold, silver, or money. The Yahoos fought over jewels, stones, and diamonds. But greed is a problem in many other areas as well, such as material possessions, fame, and attention. Greed attacks all people, it does not discriminate between ages, races, or walks of life. Children fight over who gets the biggest brownie, girls fight over boys (and vice versa), politicians forget the good of their constituents in order to satisfy what is good for their careers and pocketbooks, and kings and princes wage unnecessary wars in pursuit of bigger kingdoms, countries, and spheres of influence.
Greed is a monster. It has claimed careers, families, lives, and even nations. But it is a monster that CAN be tamed and defeated as we make the determination to choose to be thankful for, and content with, what we have, instead of dwelling on the things we don't.
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Knowldege is of absolutely no use if it is unable to be applied to life. Thank you for not only displaying knowledge through your writing, but for making it practical. The most dangerous thing that can take place in our lives today is not living in ignorance of the Truth, but knowing the Truth and failing to act upon that knowledge. You made your point tangible. Well done!
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