{"id":25920,"date":"2025-10-07T10:44:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T14:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25920"},"modified":"2025-10-07T11:00:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T15:00:33","slug":"25920","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25920","title":{"rendered":"Money and Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Simon &amp; Garfunkel - The Sound Of Silence (Lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DCtouot15cA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Money and Soul<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Richard Rohr articulates an opportunity for each of us to rediscover a \u201csoulful\u201d relationship with money.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m convinced that<strong> money and soul are united on a deep level<\/strong>. This truth is reappearing from the deep stream of wisdom traditions after centuries of almost total splitting and separation at the conscious level. There is&nbsp;<em>un<\/em>&nbsp;<em>r\u00edo mas profundo,&nbsp;<\/em>a river beneath the river. The upper stream has always been money in all its forms, beginning with trading and bartering. The deeper stream is the spiritual meaning such exchanges must have for our lives. Money and soul have never been separate in our unconscious because they are both about human exchanges, and therefore, divine exchange, too.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From my perspective, when money and soul are separated, religion is the major loser. Without a vision of wholeness that puts money in its soulful place, religion \u201csells out.\u201d Religion has allowed itself to lose the only ground on which awe and transcendence stand\u2014the foundation of totally gratuitous and \u201camazing grace.\u201d [1]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lynne Twist, founder of the Soul of Money Institute, understands the impact that our culture\u2019s disintegrated view of money has made:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For most of us, this relationship with money is a deeply conflicted one, and our behavior with and around money is often at odds with our most deeply held values, commitments, and ideals\u2014what I call our soul\u2026. I believe that under it all, when you get right down to it and uncover all the things we\u2019re told to believe in, &#8230; what deeply matters to human beings,&nbsp;<em>our most universal soulful commitments and core values<\/em>, is the well-being of the people we love, ourselves, and the world in which we live.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We really do want a world that works for everyone. We don\u2019t want children to go hungry. We don\u2019t want violence and war to plague the planet\u2026. We don\u2019t want torture and revenge and retribution to be instruments of government and leadership. Everyone wants a safe, secure, loving, nourishing life for themselves and the ones they love and really for everyone\u2026.\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each of us experiences a <strong>lifelong tug-of-war between our money interests and the calling of our soul.<\/strong> When we\u2019re in the domain of soul, we act with integrity. We are thoughtful and generous, allowing, courageous, and committed. We recognize the value of love and friendship&#8230;.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the grip of money, those wonderful qualities of soul seem to be less available. We become smaller&#8230;. We often grow selfish, greedy, petty, fearful, or controlling&#8230;. <strong>We see ourselves as winners or losers, powerful or helpless, and we let those labels deeply define us in ways that are inaccurate&#8230;.&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In a world that seems to revolve around money, it is vital that we deepen our relationship with our soul and bring it to bear on our relationship with money\u2026. We can have our money culture both balanced and nourished by soul. <\/strong>[2]&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>=========================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/app-link\/post?publication_id=4692096&amp;post_id=175473086&amp;utm_source=post-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=5p0kg&amp;token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo5NTY1MjE2LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoxNzU0NzMwODYsImlhdCI6MTc1OTgzMDk4MywiZXhwIjoxNzYyNDIyOTgzLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItNDY5MjA5NiIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.C1wmqIVG-4a0SEwxGtfXXtmSFM9xkudgjJ_DYDKVUfw\">Silence on Aisle Nine<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">(or The Sound of Being Enough)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@dgutierrez1\">LIFE, DEATH, AND COMEDY<\/a>OCT 7<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@dgutierrez1\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Beep. Beep. Beep.<\/strong><br>The register scans your almond milk, your toothpaste, the protein bars you will forget by Tuesday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sound is steady, impersonal. The familiar music of purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do I really need all these Cheez-Its?&nbsp;<strong>Beep<\/strong>.<br><br>Another box of paper towels? Didn\u2019t I just buy these? How many spills can one family possibly anticipate?<br><strong>Beep<\/strong>.<br><br>What vegetable is that again? Arugula? Do I even know how to cook arugula, or am I just trying to look like someone who eats arugula?<br><strong>Beep<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The woman ahead of me has thirty-six cans of sparkling water. I applaud her hydration plans. The guy behind me is buying beef jerky and incense. What hippie keto party is he going to? Everyone\u2019s cart looks like a personality test we did not mean to take.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Beep<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The beeping grows louder. It\u2019s so defining. It\u2019s like I\u2019m always either buying something, wanting to buy something, or worried about not being able to buy something.<br><strong>Beep<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Somewhere mid-cart, the beeps begin to feel like a heartbeat.&nbsp;<br>A hospital monitor.<br>Beep. Beep. Beep\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you listen closely, the register is announcing something about your aliveness\u2014or your quiet dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every item\u2014batteries, berries, bread\u2014is another small jolt of proof that you\u2019re here, still moving through the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But maybe it is the opposite. Maybe the beeps are not telling us we are alive. Maybe they are counting us down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><em>\u201cIf I am what I have and if what I have is lost, who then am I?\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014 Erich Fromm, To Have or To Be?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The Noise We Mistake for Life<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I catch myself doing it all the time: filling the cart, filling the calendar, filling the air with sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A podcast on the drive. News alerts at checkout. A playlist called Morning Motivation streaming into my skull before the second coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There seems to always be a soundtrack demanding I perform: the earnest shopper, the busy citizen, the aspiring sage who reads Merton during coffee breaks.&nbsp;<br><br>Noise feels like proof of life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Speaking of Merton &#8211;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><em>\u201cOur being is silent, but our existence is noisy. It is in silence that we find life.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014 Thomas Merton, The Springs of Contemplation<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I tell myself I am comfortable with silence, but there are days when the loneliness seeps in and I fear that silence might mean I have disappeared. If there isn\u2019t a soundtrack, how do I perform?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What\u2019s the soundtrack of your life?<br><\/em><br>Is it a war march, a marketing jingle, a lullaby you forgot the words to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We live in a culture where noise = life, having = life, performing = life. We call it \u201cwanting more out of life,\u201d but usually it\u2019s just more&nbsp;<em>in<\/em>&nbsp;life\u2014more objects, opinions, hustle.<br>More. More. More.<br>Beep. Beep. Beep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What if the deeper invitation, the one our bodies and souls are starving for, is&nbsp;<em>less<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The Gospel of Less<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most religions tell some version of the same story \u2014 the gospel of less.<br>Different languages, same invitation: to set down what we clutch so that life can hold us again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buddha called it non-attachment. The Hindus call it&nbsp;<em>vair\u0101gya<\/em>, acting without clinging to results. In Islam, it\u2019s&nbsp;<em>zuhd<\/em>\u2014the simplicity that keeps the heart soft to God. The Taoists talk about&nbsp;<em>wu wei<\/em>, the way of doing less so that life can move through you. And Judaism builds it right into the week: Sabbath, a holy un-doing, a pause from proving and producing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then there\u2019s the Christian story of the rich young ruler.<br>He\u2019s not a villain. He\u2019s earnest, devout, probably better behaved than most of us. He wants eternal life. He\u2019s done everything right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus looks at him\u2014Mark says, \u201cand loves him\u201d\u2014and then offers the invitation no one wants: \u201cGo, sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not because wealth is evil, but because attachment is. Jesus doesn\u2019t shame ambition; he redefines abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe holiness begins right here, in the checkout line, when we notice what we reach for without hunger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The treasure isn\u2019t in the having.<br>It\u2019s in the letting go.<br>It\u2019s in the leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You lack one thing: less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Meister Eckhart\u2019s Counterbeat<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meister Eckhart, the 13th-century mystic, called detachment\u2014<em>abegescheidenheit<\/em>\u2014\u201cthe supreme virtue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He wrote that a detached soul \u201cshould be as free as a mountain of lead, unmoved by a breeze.\u201d For him, freedom wasn\u2019t getting what you want; it was no longer needing to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eckhart\u2019s paradox is radical:&nbsp;<em>Once a person has let go of himself, then he has really let go.<\/em><br>The shedding isn\u2019t just of stuff but of identity because the self that must always prove, perform, and possess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Detachment isn\u2019t numbness. It\u2019s spaciousness\u2014the room where God can breathe again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across centuries, mystics have been humming the same quiet tune.<br>It\u2019s hidden in John of the Cross \u201cthe dark night.\u201d<br>tucked away in Thomas Merton\u2019s \u201chidden wholeness.\u201d<br>and in what Simone Weil called pure attention \u201cprayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of them whisper the same refrain:<br><em>Less, less, less.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The Science of Less<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modern psychology agrees with the mystics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2021 review of 23 studies found a consistent link between&nbsp;<strong>voluntary simplicity<\/strong>\u2014intentionally reducing consumption or commitment, and higher well-being (Hook et al.,&nbsp;<em>Journal of Positive Psychology<\/em>). People who live with less report less anxiety and more meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a caveat, though: simplicity heals only when it\u2019s&nbsp;<em>chosen<\/em>, not forced. Poverty imposed by injustice doesn\u2019t sanctify; it wounds. The research shows minimalism helps most when the letting-go is internally motivated, when you give up not because you must, but because you\u2019re free to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe that\u2019s the real test of freedom\u2014not just how we simplify our lives, but how we imagine strength itself. Because even our faith traditions get noisy. The urge to prove, to defend, to win\u2014it sneaks into our prayers and our politics just the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The Warrior\u2019s Soundtrack<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another soundtrack blares across American Christianity: the warrior march.<br>\u201cTake back the nation.\u201d<br>\u201cReclaim the culture.\u201d<br>\u201cStand firm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The metaphors of conquest and dominance have become the chorus of Christian nationalism\u2014empire logic wrapped in worship lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The irony is painful. The Christ who refused the sword, who rode a donkey instead of a warhorse, has been repackaged as a general in a culture war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what if the opposite of \u201cOnward Christian Soldier\u201d isn\u2019t cowardice: it\u2019s&nbsp;<em>surrender<\/em>?<br>Not resignation, but radical relinquishment. The mystics would call that freedom, and I think Jesus would recognize that a lot more than this \u201cso-called\u201d warrior ethos soundtrack.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The revolution we need might not be a flag to wave, but a sword to lay down.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>How tragic it is that they who have nothing to express are continually expressing themselves, like nervous gunners, firing burst after burst of ammunition into the dark, where there is no enemy\u2026. They confound their lives with noise. They stun their own ears with meaningless words, never discovering that their hearts are rooted in a silence that is not death but life. They chatter themselves to death, fearing life as if it were death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014<em>Thomas Merton<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>So, enough already with this noise that calls itself courage\u2014this drumming of shields where hearts should be listening. Maybe the real bravery now is to lower the flag, unclench the fist, and move with the kind of strength that heals instead of conquers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Silence as a Heartbeat<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my own life, transformation hasn\u2019t come through victories but vanishings.<br>The job that ended.<br>The prayer that dried up.<br>The moment I could no longer perform my way into worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each one felt like a small death.<br>Each one cracked me open to something truer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I ask again:<br><strong>What\u2019s the soundtrack of your life?<\/strong><br>Do you know how it sounds when the register stops, when the heart monitor goes flat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s terrifying at first, but underneath the silence, something gentler appears:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sound of being itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The Pulse of Enough<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe the gospel we need isn\u2019t \u201cmore.\u201d<br>It\u2019s \u201cenough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meister Eckhart said:&nbsp;<em>\u201cGod is not found in the soul by adding anything, but by a process of subtraction.\u201d<\/em><br>That\u2019s not just theology; it\u2019s medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beep. Beep. Beep.<br>The cart is empty now. The monitor is quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first, it feels like loss.<br>Then you realize: this isn\u2019t death.<br>It\u2019s the sound of being alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Money and Soul Richard Rohr articulates an opportunity for each of us to rediscover a \u201csoulful\u201d relationship with money.&nbsp;&nbsp; I\u2019m convinced that money and soul are united on a deep level. This truth is reappearing from the deep stream of wisdom traditions after centuries of almost total splitting and separation at the conscious level. There [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25920"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25920"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25927,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25920\/revisions\/25927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}