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Summer Greetings!
Welcome to the second edition of our quarterly ezine!
As you can see from the calendar below, MoM has numerous events scheduled throughout the US - including special speakers like Arthur Simon and Sr. José Hobday and new retreat offerings such as the Kids and Money retreat. There are also new pilgrimage destinations - Tijuana in August and India in November. Several organizations have already scheduled custom pilgrimages for a group from their church or organization - four on the list for 2005!
It is a busy and blessed time at Ministry of Money and
we invite you to join us at one of our events soon.
Sincerely,
Kevin Cashman, Director
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Upcoming MoM Events | |||
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MoM
Money & Faith Retreats
September 24-25, 2004 September 24-25, 2004 October 8-10, 2004 October 15-16, 2004 October 29-31, 2004 November 19-20, 2004
Basic Money & Faith Retreat
Diamond Hill United Methodist Church, Greenwich, CT
$100 per person
Basic Money & Faith Retreat
West End United Methodist Church, Nashville, TN
$100 per person
Basic Money & Faith Retreat
Colorado Springs, CO
$250 per person
Kids & Money: Teaching Faith & Values in a Materialistic World
Christ Church (Episcopal), Wilmington, DE
$100 per person (adults only for this retreat)
Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture: a special retreat with Arthur
Simon, Founder of Bread for the World
Co-Sponsored with Harvest Time
Wellspring Conference Center, Germantown, MD
$240 per person
Basic Money & Faith Retreat
Myers Park United Methodist Church, Charlotte, NC
$100 per person
MoM Pilgrimages
August 1-8, 2004
Tijuana, Mexico Pilgrimage
$850 per person (not including transportation to San Diego)
Register NOW!
November 3-15, 2004
India Pilgrimage
$4,000 (includes airfare)
Register by September 15th
November 5-14, 2004
Haiti Pilgrimage
$1,750 (includes airfare)
Register by September 1st
January 31-February 6, 2004
Tijuana, Mexico Pilgrimage
$850 (not including transportation to San Diego)
Register by November 15th
February 20-March 5, 2004
Ethiopia Pilgrimage
Cost to be determined
Register by December 15th
For information about any of these events, please contact Ministry of Money at (301) 428-9560 or by email at office@ministryofmoney.org
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Reflections . . . | |||
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"Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know I am moving from fear to love." - Henri Nouwen
"The absolute desire of 'having more' encourages the selfishness that destroys communal bonds among the children of God. It does so because the idolatry of riches prevents the majority from sharing the goods that the Creator has made for all, and in the all- possessing minority it produces an exaggerated pleasure in these goods." - Archbishop Oscar Romero
"Most of us believe in 'order' to feel secure, in order to make our individual lives seem valuable and meaningful. Belief has thus become an attempt to hang on to life, to grasp and keep it for one's own. But you cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you try to grasp it. Indeed, you cannot grasp it, just as you cannot walk off with a river in a bucket. . . To have running water you must let go of it and let it run. The same is true of life and of God." - Flannery O'Connor
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The Soul of Money | |||
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-by Lynne Twist, from Spirituality & Health Magazine
Day in and day out, we can choose a spiritual practice with enormous possibility and surprising power. It's called the soul of money. Why not use this tax season to visualize genuine prosperity?
Tax time pushes all our emotional buttons. At least it does for me and everyone I know, middle- income, millionaire, or "dollar-aire" with little earnings. The questions make us squirm: How much did I earn? Where did I get it? What did I spend it on -- the children? The mortgage? Education? Medical bills? Magazine subscriptions? Business expenses? Charities? Causes? How much? How much? The answers only upset us: I didn't earn enough. Where did it all go? My investments are a disaster. These taxes are killing me. My bookkeeping is lousy. I'll never get ahead!
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A New Spirit at Work | |||
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- by Jane Lampman, The Christian Science Monitor
Leaders around the world are moving to transform the business world with an infusion of spiritual values.
Signs of spirituality in the workplace keep turning up: thousands of prayer or meditation groups; company- sponsored chaplains; conferences and executive training sessions that experiment with spiritual practices or how to incorporate values into decisionmaking.
Yet as corporate scandals capture headlines, this groundswell of activity has begun coalescing into a movement not just for personal growth but for fundamental organizational and cultural change.
A small global network of corporate leaders is emerging that is forging a new vision for business. As the world's most dominant institution, and the one most capable of rapid change, business must take responsibility for promoting not simply private gain but the common good, these leaders say. This means redefining business to focus on people and on decisionmaking based on values - like integrity, respect, intuition, and creativity. The shift involves going beyond maximizing profits to considering all stakeholders: employees, customers, vendors, shareholders, and the community.
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Shop 'Til the Earth Goes 'Pop' | |||
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- by Jim Lobe, Common Dreams News Center
Fatter and ever hungrier for the latest physical comforts and social-status symbols, the average U.S. citizen is leading the world in building a global consumer society that is wreaking havoc on the world's natural resources, according to the 30th annual edition of Worldwatch Institute's 'State of the World' released here Thursday.
U.S. consumption styles have not only spread to other industrialized nations, according to the "State of the World: 2004;" they have succeeded in penetrating much of the developing world as well.
In China alone, 240 million people have joined the ranks of the "consumer class,'' accounting for about five percent of the estimated 1.7 billion people worldwide who have adopted the diets, transportation systems, and lifestyles pioneered in the U.S. and quickly taken up by other industrialized nations during the last century, according to the 245- page report.
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Comic Relief . . . | |||
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Recommended Resources | |||
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Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy by Tom Beaudoin; Published by Sheed & Ward; January 2004
Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir by Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB; published by Sheed & Ward; April 2004
The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization by Thomas Friedman; published by Anchor; May 2000
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Our Next Issues . . . | |||
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The next issue of the MoM ezine will arrive electronically in early October.
And watch for the upcoming issue of the MoM print newsletter that will be out in early August with a theme of "Money, Faith & Politics." If you'd like to subscribe to either 'free' publication click here.
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