{"id":314,"date":"2009-09-15T10:10:50","date_gmt":"2009-09-15T17:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/?p=314"},"modified":"2009-09-15T16:50:56","modified_gmt":"2009-09-15T23:50:56","slug":"blood-from-a-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/09\/blood-from-a-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood From a Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blood<\/a>

Blood From A Stone (Artistic Rendition)<\/p><\/div>\n

I don’t like complaining.\u00a0 It never really brings about any change and it only tends to bring negativity to all involved.\u00a0 However, sometimes things need to be said to wake everyone up.\u00a0 I don’t think what I am saying is new,\u00a0as we are all feeling the effects of the current state of the economy.\u00a0 Everyone is spending less, and overall I think that is a prudent course.\u00a0 Spending irresponsibly is partly to blame for our current state.\u00a0 Being frugal is always prudent.<\/p>\n

At the same time, we do not want to become stingy, especially those of us\u00a0who are of means.\u00a0 If the so called “trickle – down – economics” theory is to work in any way (and I am not a believer in this theory, nor do I want to see it implemented anymore), then those of means need to spend in order for some of their wealth to actually “trickle down”.\u00a0 I am not an economist, but such a theory seems very flawed when those who have means don’t spend and allow the majority of society to whither away as is currently\u00a0happening.\u00a0 This is detrimental to everyone, even those wealthy individuals\u00a0that are holding back.\u00a0 In such a case the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; not exactly the most equitable of conditions.\u00a0 In fact in such a state, those who cannot afford even basic necessities, will of course, turn to thievery and prey on the rich creating a society of fear and distrust.\u00a0 A simple analysis yes, but you can fill in the blanks\u00a0for everything else that will become corrupted.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this theory rarely ever produces a just and fair economic condition because miserliness and the love of material wealth almost always plagues the hearts of those who acquire wealth.\u00a0 These are both serious spiritual ailments and there is but one cure, Death.\u00a0 Well…, yes when a person dies every disease of the heart ceases to exist (only at that point our souls will reap what those diseases have sowed), but in this case it is the remembrance of our mortality that will bring a cure.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the underlying problem to both miserliness and love of material wealth is the notion that somehow the wealth is there to protect us in future times when things get bad, like it is now.\u00a0 However until the wealth is spent, for whatever reason, it is of no real benefit and it would be as if you did not have it at all anyway.\u00a0 In addition, we have absolutely no idea when death will come knocking.\u00a0 It could be decades from now, next year, tomorrow or even in the nex….\u00a0 I think you get the point.\u00a0 You can’t take that wealth with you when you depart from this world, it is left behind.\u00a0 If that wealth is not used for something then it is of no benefit to the person who is holding on to it nor to those who might benefit from it.<\/p>\n

One practice instituted by Islamic Law is Zakat.\u00a0 In fact it is one of the five main tenets of the faith.\u00a0 Every year, anyone whose wealth is equivalent to or more than the worth of\u00a03 ounces of gold is obligated to give 1\/40th (2.5%) of their wealth to those who are in need (those who have no wealth or less than the value of 3 ounces of gold).\u00a0 So that even if a miser did not spend, the Zakat would still be exacted and wealth would move around in society.\u00a0 And if the wealth is never spent, the Zakat will eventually eat it all and ensure that it is of benefit to as many people as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I know that not all wealthy individuals are misers, and that is a good thing.\u00a0 But miserliness grows in the heart the longer a person holds on to their wealth with the notion that it is for that “rainy day”. I pray that our hearts are protected from becoming infected with misreliness and loving material wealth. So that in times of hardship we don’t find it easier to squeeze blood from a stone than a dollar from the hand of a miser.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So that in times of hardship we don’t find it easier to squeeze blood from a stone than a dollar from the hand of a miser.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[10],"tags":[183,85,185,186,181,180,182,184],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}