Vice #4: Greed

Greed is not simply having more than we need. It is the overwhelming desire for more. We don't tame greed by cutting back on our "wish lists" or on our shopping. We tame it by having a change of heart.

I did a quick Internet search for stories on greed, and found a page with some good links. But it was filled with annoying pop up ads telling me I had won a free plasma TV, another one offering a free laptop, if I would just click on the link. The pop up ads played on my greed. They were the kind that you couldn't click away from without clicking on the item! For a moment, I was ensnared.

The Internet itself is now literally a bottomless pit of items to bid on or buy outright. Bidding on eBay can be addicting. Worse, the lure of 24-hour-a-day gambling has proved tragically overwhelming for some.

But this story really gets at the true nature of greed, by an unknown author. An emperor was coming out of his palace for his morning walk when he met a beggar. He asked the beggar, "What do you want?"

The beggar laughed and said, "You are asking me as though you can fulfill my desire!"

The king was offended. He was a powerful and rich king with every earthly good at his disposal. He said, "Of course I can fulfill your desire. What is it? Just tell me."

The beggar said, "It is a very simple desire. You see this begging bowl? Can you fill it with something?"

The emperor said, "Of course!" He called one of his advisors and told him, "Fill this man's begging bowl with money." The advisor went and got some money and poured it into the bowl, and it disappeared. And he poured more and more, and the moment he would pour it, it would disappear. And the begging bowl remained always empty.

The whole palace gathered. The story went throughout the whole capital, and a huge crowd gathered. The prestige of the emperor was at stake. He said to his advisors, "If the whole kingdom is lost, I am ready to lose it, but I cannot be defeated by this beggar."

Diamonds and pearls and emeralds, his treasuries were becoming empty. The begging bowl seemed to be bottomless. Everything that was put into it immediately disappeared, went out of existence. Everything! Finally it was evening, and the people were standing there in utter silence. The king dropped at the feet of the beggar and admitted his defeat. He said, "Just tell me one thing. You are victorious, but before you leave, just fulfill my curiosity. What is the begging bowl made of?"

The beggar laughed and said, "It is made up of the human mind. There is no secret. It is simply made up of human desire."

Even though this story is a fable, I think we all know something about the emptiness of the begging bowl. Each time we get the next thing on our list there may be a temporary lift, pleasure, or excitement. But soon we are longing for the next item on our mental list. The item we have just been granted or gained in our begging bowl disappears. It no longer has importance. That is greed. And it is a part of human nature.

When we get to the point that we understand that things will never satisfy us, we have made a great discovery. When we are truly content with what we have, we are truly rich.

The beggar, even though he asked for something, was not as greedy as the emperor who had something to prove. So it is with the things we have; there is nothing wrong with them in and of themselves; it is our longing for more and feeling proud of our possessions that constitutes greed.

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Contributed by Melodie Davis: MelodieD@MennoMedia.org Melodie is the author of eight books and writes a syndicated newspaper column, Another Way