Nathan Gilmour leads David Grubbs and Michial Farmer in a discussion of Rodney Clapp’s 1996 article “Why the Devil Takes Visa.”
Philosophy, Theology, Literature, and Other Things Human Beings Do Well
Nathan Gilmour leads David Grubbs and Michial Farmer in a discussion of Rodney Clapp’s 1996 article “Why the Devil Takes Visa.”
Actually I’ve been in a group that shares our household budgets and makes financial decisions in community — it’s called Lazarus at the Gate and is quite a valuable experience.
http://www.bostonfaithjustice.org/#/lazarus/about-lazarus-at-the-gate
As far as “Don’t let your right hand know what the left hand is doing,” I think of us found it a more humbling experience than a prideful one. Setting up fundraising campaigns to include as many “naming opportunities” as possible seems problematic. This, not so much.
And in honor of Michial Farmer, I include a relevant Walker Percy reference.
https://books.google.com/books?id=cF12H5ReX88C&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=walker+percy+boyfriend+money+sex&source=bl&ots=ZhBPKn8Of2&sig=v6jCUVbYdUcMjDWS2ixCHWUkp9c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZgdAVdzrIcr1oATEjIDQBA&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=walker%20percy%20boyfriend%20money%20sex&f=false
I keep thinking about this question of sharing your household budgets — because I do think that what we keep secret is likely to have power over us and boy does our culture keep quiet about money.
Yet there is the “don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” thing and it’s dangerous to say that “oh those warnings are for other people. You know, those rich people who name buildings after themselves. Not us.”
AND YET, I pray in groups all the time. Or I go to a chapel to pray. People driving by see me walk into the door. And okay sure sometimes I pray at home too but never once have I tried to push the clothes aside and squeeze into my bedroom closet. (okay okay fine that isn’t QUITE what that means.) And I don’t think those are bad.
So it seems to me there’s space for including a fair amount more talking about money and stewardship and not just in general abstract principles but how do faithful people actually live this out, a lot more than we generally do. I know it’s been helpful for me.