in that order.
The title of this essay, the title of this conversation isn't a
declaration. It's an inquiry.
It's not "Give me money (that's what I want!
)". It's "Give me money (that's what I want?
)".
I love The Beatles and their music. I love the way they
work
together. I love their zaniness, their scintillatingly acerbic
wit ("The people in the
cheaper
seats, clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you'd just rattle your
jewelry.").
I love the way they're unselfdeprecatingly confident of their own
genius. I love the way they gleefully mine their vein of enormous
talent not only for awesome music but also for great wealth. It's now
common lore when
John Lennon
and Paul McCartney sat down to write "Help!", the session started with
McCartney's
infamous
"Let's write a
swimming
pool.".
This conversation isn't about The Beatles. You'd have to step
outside of that conversation to get what this is really
about.
Outside the realm of prudent nutritional practice ie eating
right as a component of what makes for a life that
works,
and outside the responsibility (recognized or not) each of us has for
nurturing our own bodies, if my daily credo was "Give me food
(that's what I want!)", you could assume (probably accurately)
there's an obsession somewhere. The starving beggar and the gourmet
glutton share the same predicament. If my daily credo was "Give me
wine
(that's what I want!)", you could also assume (probably accurately)
there's an obsession somewhere. The thirsty desert nomad and the
oenophile alcoholic share the same predicament.
That said, food and drink are basic necessities. Life on
Planet Earth
doesn't go well without them. Acknowledged or not, no food from either
a Delhi street market or from
Napa Valley's
French Laundry can in and of itself create a
context for wholeness and completion where's there's none to begin
with. Acknowledged or not, no drink from either the office water
fountain or from the
famed
French Bordeau appellation can in and of itself create a
context for wholeness and completion where's there's none to begin
with.
"Give me money (that's what I want!)", infectious, catchy,
boisterous,
exuberant,
asks for money which by itself (acknowledged or not) won't
create a context for wholeness and completion where's there's none to
begin with. But it's worse than that actually. If you tell the truth
about what's undistinguished, we eat beyond eating right
because eating suppresses feelings of emptiness and incompletion. We
drink beyond quenching thirst because drinking suppresses
feelings of emptiness and incompletion.
Take a look. Tell the truth. Isn't that what we want money to do? To be
specific, isn't that what we envision having a
swimming
pool of money will do? "Give me money (that's what I
want!) because money will vanquish these feelings of
emptiness and incompletion ..." - that's the daily credo. The trouble
is without already wholeness and completion, there'll
never be enough money. Ever. It's
futile.
What I want is to eat right and I do. But I don't want food like a
gourmet glutton. What I want is to quench my thirst and I do. But I
don't want
wine
like an oenophile alcoholic. What I want is to be financially viable
and I am. But I don't want money like another obsession. In fact,
money? That's not what I want. What I want is
my life to make a difference. That's what I want. What I want is my
life to count. That's what I want. What I want is my vocation to be so
enthralling, so calling it drives me out of bed early in
the morning and keeps me up late at night. That's what I want. What I
want is to discover how to serve (as Albert Schweitzer may have said).
That's what I want. What I want is complete rapid response
communication with everyone
transformed
and no one and nothing left out.