Money Is A Lot Like Water - Lynne Twist
We’ve allowed this culture of money to shut down our heart, close off
access to our soul, and drive us such that we behave in ways that undermine and
erode the very center and core of our most human values. I believe it’s possible
to transform our relationship with money and the culture of money that we’ve
created in a way that resources continue to flow, that prosperity continues to
be available, and that all of us can be served, nurtured and empowered to more
fully express who we are as the human family.
I learned a lot about money from a woman named Gertrude.
I met her in a church basement in Harlem. I was doing a small fundraising
event for The Hunger Project. I had come from Minneapolis where I had met with
an executive of a large food company. The food company had an image problem and
felt that making a donation to The Hunger Project and being seen to support the
end of hunger might help clean up its image. The executive I met with had given
me a check for $50,000—but he gave me the donation basically to get me to go
away, to assuage his guilt about some public mistakes the company had made and
to have the company look good in the eyes of the public. I could tell in the
interaction we had that he had no real interest in connecting with resource-poor
people or in making any kind of a difference in the work to end world hunger.
The money was given from guilt, and the guilt was passed along with the money. I
now felt guilty receiving it. I had received the money and the guilt. And both
he and I were unfulfilled.
I had the $50,000 check in my briefcase, which sat behind me on a table in
the basement of the Harlem church. There were 75 people gathered before me. All
of them were black. It was raining and there were leaks all over the room we
were in. There were buckets strategically placed all around us catching the
dripping water and there was a constant background noise of the rain outside and
the dripping from the leaking walls and ceiling. I looked out at the audience
and I knew that the people sitting there did not have much to give. I spoke to
them about The Hunger Project’s work in Africa, as I thought it would be the
most relevant to their own lives and their heritage. When it came time to ask
for donations, my palms were sweating and I began to perspire all over wondering
if it was the right thing to do. I went ahead and made the request, and the room
was absolutely silent.
After what seemed like a long, long time, a woman named Gertrude stood up.
She was sitting on the aisle in the second row from the back. She was in her
late sixties or early seventies. She had gray hair and when she stood up she was
tall, thin, erect and proud.
She said to me, “I ain’t got no checkbook. I ain’t got no credit cards. To
me, money is a lot like water. For some folks it rushes through their life like
a raging river, but the money comes through my life like a small trickle. But I
want to pass it on in a way that does the best good for the most folks. I see
that as my right and as my responsibility. It’s also my joy. I have $50 in my
purse that I earned from doing a white woman’s wash and I want to give it to
you.”
She walked up the aisle and gave me her precious $50 and at that moment I
saw the power of money in a new way.
I knew that the $50 that I received from Gertrude would buy more for the
end of hunger than the $50,000 check in my briefcase. I knew that that $50 was
money that came from the soul and not from some bank account. I saw that the
power of money can be seen in the way we use it and the integrity with which we
direct it into the world. Gertrude taught me a great lesson and I never forgot
it.
As Gertrude tells us, we can look at money like water. It flows all over
the planet and everywhere it goes it’s useful, it makes things happen and it’s
passed along. We could say that water doesn’t belong to any of us or it belongs
to all of us. When water is flowing and moving it cleanses, it purifies, it
makes things green, it creates growth, it nurtures. But when water starts to
slow down, is held back and starts to be still, it can be toxic and stagnant to
those who hold it. All of this can be true of money.
It’s possible to have money flow in a way that serves our highest ideals
and commitments rather than accumulate it so that we can gain power, authority
and special privileges over others. Money can bear the mark of he or she who
passed it on and in many ways can be voice, expression and commitment.
About the Author: Lynne Twist is the founder of Pachamama Alliance, and
author of Soul of Money (from which the above story is excerpted).
