Re: Off-Topic - Avarice/Covetousness on the Mental Plane

Sat  Apr 5, 2008  7:08 pm

Dan wrote:

"There are many quotes in the Bible (both new and old testaments) that refer to desire, long, lust, covet, avarice, greed, etc. which have similar roots: the wish for something other than what one already has.

"Doesn't the Law of Reaping & Sowing (Cause & Effect) (Karma) (not to mention the Law of Love) pretty much say that you (did, do, will) have EXACTLY what you deserve (warrant) (need for progression of the whole of which you are a integral part) at any particular point in 'time'?

"So, wouldn't WANTING (coveting) some situation OTHER than that which you are NOW presently experiencing be DESIRING (being mentally attached to the IDEA of) something OTHER than that which you deserve (warrant) (need) right NOW?

"Additionally it would be anything BUT humble - thinking you know better than Life (god) itself what is best for you (and all concerned)!"

JJ:

Let me see if I can restate what you are saying in language that all can understand.

That which is happening now is the result of past causes and there is no changing it so we might as well accept it. In other words, If I have bought a Ford and a Ford is sitting in my driveway it does little good to wish I presently had a Toyota in the driveway. Wishing this at the present moment does not make the Ford turn into a Toyota.

It's not avarice, or a sin, to wish for the Ford to turn into a Toyota, but it is silly and I think most people realize this principle and already accept it, except in painful matters like the death of a loved one. In this case many spend much wasted time wishing for the present to be different than it is.

Now the future is another matter. You can look in the future and decide that a Toyota will replace the Ford and bring that into your present within a certain period of time.

This is pretty basic stuff that most people do not need explained to them.

When the Bible commands against coveting it commands us to not covet that which legitimately belongs to another, such as "another man's wife." But if you do not have a mate now and want one and seek to make your tomorrow's present more fulfilling than today, this is not coveting any way you look at it.

After all Jesus told us over and over to "seek and ye shall find." Jesus was certainly not leading us into covetousness by telling us to seek that which we do not yet possess because he was telling us to seek that which we have a right to have that doesn't infringe upon the rights of another.

Copyright © 2008 by JJ Dewey, All Rights Reserved