There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.Both the Christian and Taoist lines point to a richness that goes far beyond earthly wealth, power and status. When material wealth is THE overriding goal, we hollow out our inner core. When material wealth is of no great concern and we give of ourselves to others, then we are rich in virtue, a treasure that no one can steal.
~ King James version ~
The sage never tries to store things up.
The more he does for others, the more he has.
The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.
~ from Verse 81 of the Tao Te Ching ~
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.
You know, if I were a Jew, I think I would get annoyed at your constant reference to everything in the OT as "Christian." I was educated in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and have close emotional and intellectual associations with Anglicans and Roman Catholics, and we/they never talk about the OT as "Christian" texts. Certainly they are part of "The Holy Bible", but to call Proverbs or Psalms or the other books of the OT "Christian" seems strange to me. The Gospels, the Epistles and the rest of the NT are "Christian," for sure.
ReplyDeleteBut Proverbs?
Of course, a lot of Fundamentalists do not consider Catholics (Roman, Orthodox, or Anglo-) Christians.
Point well taken.
ReplyDeleteIt must be remembered that I'm looking at the OT in this series from the viewpoint of a fundamentalist Christian.