Themeattics

I want the world // I want the whole world // Don’t care how // I want it now

Veruca Salt, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Greetings friends, and welcome to week two of my wonderfully uplifting delve into sin’s grip on the world and what we can do in our own lives to break the cycle. Last week I covered Gluttony. This week I’ll delve into one of its close relatives: Avarice, more commonly referred to as Greed.

When I first decided on the idea of covering the sins as for a series, I realized pretty quickly these first three would give me the biggest trouble. On a surface level, they’re all quite similar. Gluttony, Avarice, and Lust are, at their core, sins of want. Yes, I could focus on the surface-level interpretations and have spent all of last week covering food and all of next week talking about sex, but those are symptoms of deeper disorders. With Gluttony, that was a focus on consumption with no pleasure or appreciation. For Avarice, we find a need to obtain things we do not have and hold them forever.

Greed is one of those ideas that comes with its own stock image unique to everyone. The robber baron in his top hat and cane, lording over child laborers. Ebeneezer Scrooge in the dark mansion he inherited from his business partner, a single candle lighting his path. Scrooge McDuck, diving into his piles of gold. Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, using near-limitless wealth to wrest control of entire institutions. Smaug and his mountain of treasure.

These things are colored through a Western lense, no doubt, but they speak of a similar thoughts. Avarice is at its core, the need to hoard value. It seeks to find value in anything and never let it go. Where Gluttony would consume without relishing what it had, Avarice relishes without consuming. This naturally leads us to think of the billionaire capitalist, but we needn’t go so far. Avarice does not require wealth. Watch an episode of Hoarders. It’s repulsive to most of us, but it’s a prime example. The people in that show have truly disordered love toward things. Things which remind them of better times, things which might some day be of value, things which they consider to have value simply because they exist.

Interestingly, of all the sins, Greed remains one of the few that we in the West manage to decry in the political and moral spheres. The wealth held by certain citizens is seen as a moral failing of our time. Capitalism itself is attacked as repugnant for being a tool used by the rich against the poor. I’ve got some words on that, but this isn’t the article – suffice it to say any economic system is nothing more than a tool; the morality of that tool lies solely in the hand of the people wielding it. Anyway, there was a time I found it frustrating that this, of all the sins, was such a focus, but to be honest I’m glad any of them remain. It shows that there’s still some ground to gain footing.

And how do we, as individuals, deal with our greed?

With Charity. Charity is the antithesis of Greed, but we must be careful not to think of it as just giving. The virtue of Charity is meant to encompass a limitless loving kindness toward all. It is generosity, yes, but taken to its heights. Charity requires sacrifice – if we give only what we feel no desire to hold onto, we’re not combating Avarice at all. We’re allowing ourselves to hoard what we truly value and attempting to placate our conscience by giving away what we don’t value. It’s a show, a trick, and ultimately a sign of the greatest sin of all. More of that to come on week seven.

You know, it’s ironic. When I started this I thought that, of all the sins, Avarice was one I had managed to more readily avoid. I don’t consider myself a greedy person. I try to live a somewhat minimalist life. I try not to buy things I don’t need, I rid myself of thing I no longer use that just take up space. But, as I’ve been writing this, I realize I’ve been kidding myself. There are absolutely things I hoard. Two of the most important things I have, in fact. I hoard my money and my time. I’ve always considered myself stingy but never equated that with Avarice. After all, it’s not like I’m rich. I have a family to pay for, things they need. But there are always people more in need than us, and what do I afford them? Nothing, really. I could give time to help others as well, but I don’t. I spend it here, shut away, writing about how I should be doing something else. Something charitable. Like I said, ironic.

I suppose there’s a reason people rarely live up to the virtues. Turns out they’re hard, and human nature is a difficult thing to break. And to that, I’ll be honest – I’m not sure what I’ll do. Last week was a much easier bit of introspection. I had a clear case of what I spent (still spend) too much time consuming and tangible steps to progress. I’ve made the first of many small steps in that regard. But Charity? Well, that’s a tougher pill to swallow. I suppose I know what I can do – what I should do – but I’m afraid to do it. That’s actually the right word. Afraid. I know it’s the right one because I didn’t want to put it out there. It pulls at that thread which leads to the greatest sin, makes me want to hide it from view, but the least I can do is expose it.

So, yes, I’ll say it again. I’m afraid to be more charitable. Afraid that I won’t be able to keep the life my family has grown accustomed to. Afraid that I’ll no longer have the time to pursue my own ambitions. Afraid that those things I’ve been hoarding will vanish and turn out to have been necessary after all. But what use is all of it if I’m neglecting to live a life according to the new covenant set forth by Christ? If I am meant to love others as He loved me, the only option is Charity.

Maybe it’s time I dusted off those Diaconate plans I’ve been avoiding.

With that surprisingly introspective moment out of the way, I hope you’ll all join me next week when I cover the aptly termed love child of Avarice and Gluttony, Lust. Have a wonderful week in the interim, and please, consider what it is that you hoard in your own life. Remember that there’s only one person you can directly change, and that’s yourself. Don’t let the darkness in the world keep you down. Find your path forward and take it. God bless, everyone.