Small Change

Modern Slavery

Years ago, I wrote that blessings bring responsibilities. I illustrated the point by saying that more shoes required more work to keep them presentable. A friend, Larry Roberts, told me that my problem was that I had too many shoes! (At that time, I had two pair!)

The point of this interchange came home to me later when I read the story of Amadeo Peter Giannini. Though born in poverty, Mr. Giannini started and oversaw the growth of the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. In the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake, he concealed two million dollars from looters to restart his bank. When he died in 1949, he owned the largest commercial bank in the world, Bank of America.

Despite the opportunities provided by owning the company, he did not choose to amass a personal fortune. His practice was to give large charitable donations when he came close to becoming a millionaire. He reasoned, “No man actually owns a fortune. It owns him.”

If I owned shoes, I would have to care for them. I might presume to own a house but the house takes ownership when a water pipe breaks. Believing I own a car, its breakdown creates the demand for my attention. When possessions accumulate, they take over our lives. We must provide storage, insurance, repair, and protection. In effect, we become slaves to the things we possess.

This is a fragment of the warning God gives, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” (I John 2:15) Owned by their possessions, Israel forgot God even though warned about this. (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)

Take a look around at all that you possess and ask the question, “What really owns whom?” —Penney F. Nichols