Smart Investment Decisions

There are numerous statements throughout the logia of the Thomas gospel and elsewhere in the Jesus literature where images are used pertaining to money, property, rich or poor, etc. and as with everything else it is clear that he speaks of our emotional or psychological investments, and as usually he does not intend for us to take him literally. But, in spite of how many times he says that it all comes to us in parables, or pulls his hair out and wonders why we didn't understand that he was not speaking of literal "bread," we merrily continue taking him literally anyway. The way to defy the spirit of the law is to take it literally. Every good lawyer knows that. That's how you get off. You follow the letter of the law, while defying the spirit of the law, and you cannot be challenged in court. This is a basic ego trick. It is what A Course In Miracles calls level confusion, and it is the most basic defense strategy of the ego against anything Jesus says. Thus statements that speak only of the level of spirit or the mind, which is what Jesus basically addresses himself to, become interpreted in a literal way, and find reflection in the world in such ideas as Islamic banking, where you cannot charge interest, but of course that is not going to stop business, it merely means that other constructs have to be developed. Logion 95 is a typical example, for here Jesus speaks of not lending money at interest, but giving it away instead. Taken literally that seems clear enough. Except it is not what he meant.

There is however a common usage which sheds a lot of light on this expression, we speak of "psychological attachment" and of "being invested" in something in the psychological/emotional sense. That is the key to understanding this statement as it was meant. Jesus speaks of the wealth of the spirit, and encourages us to share it liberally, not looking for a specific return, that would be a typical ego-mechanism, where you are doing A to get B, and naturally you are always looking for a B, which to you is more valuable than the A you have to offer. That is the foundation of the ego's horsetrading, but it is different in God's economy of Love, where you gain by sharing. In A Course In Miracles you will find a lot of use of the concept of investing, and riches in a similar vein as in the historical sayings of Jesus. Our spiritual capital is love, the ego's capital is scarcity (remember economics, the dismal science, is based on valuations that are all based on scarcity of goods?), and in God's economy of Love, ideas grow by sharing, thus we learn to extend Love through the forgiveness teachings. Here is a summary from the Course about how to invest our spiritual capital:

    Every loving thought held in any part of the Sonship belongs to every part. It is shared because it is loving. Sharing is God's way of creating, and also yours. The ego can keep you in exile from the Kingdom, but in the Kingdom itself it has no power. Ideas of the spirit do not leave the mind that thinks them, nor can they conflict with each other. However, ideas of the ego can conflict because they occur at different levels and also include opposite thoughts at the same level. It is impossible to share opposing thoughts. You can share only the thoughts that are of God and that He keeps for you. And of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. The rest remains with you until the Holy Spirit has reinterpreted them in the light of the Kingdom, making them, too, worthy of being shared. When they have been sufficiently purified He lets you give them away. The decision to share them is their purification. (ACIM:T-5.IV.3)