Money is the Sacrament of Moral Seriousness 

Wordsworth penned it long ago in these immortal words:

           ‘Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers”

And little seems to have changed down the decades
And now this quote from Giles Fraser (former Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s)

‘Money is the sacrament of moral seriousness’

Is money all that matters in our lives?
Well, of course, without it we ne’er can survive
So day-by-day we strive to earn our cash
Ignoring it is simply far too rash

So for most of us we have no other choice
In the courts of life money gives us voice
And getting it and spending it we can’t avoid
Thus our energies to that end deployed

But is money the measure of all things?
Despite the vital benefits it brings
Must we forever strive to garner more
To hold good credit balances in store?

Is the danger thus that wealth becomes our God?
Before its altar we bend ever awed
Thus money’s worship our new sacrament
Our life’s devotion thus bears testament

All that we have becomes all that we are
Possessions are our measure and our star
Seems little else our hearts can satisfy
Things alone our desire can gratify

But is there not another way to live?
Blessing gained when we learn to give
To share something of the bounty we have gained
Our selfishness no longer unconstrained

And perhaps there is another moral purpose
Which with generosity we can surely purchase
The fairer sharing of the world’s, and our own gains
A legacy for all from that which still remains

Ken Fisher