Virtues of Prosperity: Generosity; Gratitude; Humility.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..

(Galatians 5:22)

The last few posts have presented the first four of what I call the Ten Virtues of Prosperity.  These virtues are the different denominations of the currency of the moral economy, as dollars and cents are for the material economy.   Exemplifying these virtues will be difficult to say the least.  I mean that we should be clear about one thing: applying spiritual principles of thought and behavior among people whose values are materialistic, whose conception of human nature is ego-centered, and whose idea of human purpose is self-centered action, creates upheaval, arouses suspicion, and invites negative reaction. 

Ideally, of course, spiritual principle and practical action are inseparable, one seamless flow of thought and behavior.  But we do not live in such an ideal condition, but one that is almost exactly the opposite of it.  Baha’u’llah wrote of the effects of moral acts in an immoral society: “One righteous act is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the force that hath spent itself and vanished.” (Gleanings: 286)  I call your attention especially to the “tear every bond asunder” threat wedged in between the two firm promises of elevating the dust and restoring the force that hath spent itself and vanished.  Christ said that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins, for as the new wine ferments it expands and the old skin having lost its elasticity bursts.  This is what happens when the new wine of Revelation gets poured into our old wineskins of social and mental reality.  We are seeing increasing insanity and immorality, because our old thought patterns, values and assumptions about Reality have burst asunder. Virtue is the new wineskin.    

The fifth virtue is generosity.  As opposed to any Calvinist-type thinking that accumulation of material riches is the proof of spiritual felicity, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “Eternal happiness is contingent upon giving.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace: 131)   There is no greater means to achieve general prosperity than by generosity.  Bahá’u’lláh commands us to: “Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people.” (Gleanings: 297)  In another place He warns the rich, saying: “Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction, and deprive them of the Tree of Wealth. To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth himself with My virtues.” (The Hidden Words Persian #49)  

In His letter to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote:  “Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is voluntary sharing of one’s property with others among mankind.  This voluntary sharing is greater than equality, and consists in this, that one should not prefer oneself to others, but rather should sacrifice one’s life and property for others.” (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha: 302)  To the great financier and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, He wrote: “Man reacheth perfection through good deeds, voluntarily performed, not through good deeds the doing of which was forced upon him. And sharing is a personally chosen righteous act: that is, the rich should extend assistance to the poor, they should expend their substance for the poor, but of their own free will, and not because the poor have gained this end by force. For the harvest of force is turmoil and the ruin of the social order.  On the other hand voluntary sharing, the freely-chosen expending of one's substance, leadeth to society's comfort and peace.  It lighteth up the world; it bestoweth honour upon humankind.” (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha: 115)   And while in Paris He said: “The rich must give of their abundance, they must soften their hearts and cultivate a compassionate intelligence, taking thought for those sad ones who are suffering from lack of the very necessities of life.” (Paris Talks: 153)

But just to tell someone “be generous like Christ or Bahá’u’lláh” probably will not get him or her very far.  This is because whenever an immature soul gives to another he may well fear that he is impoverishing himself, for he thinks life is a competitive zero-sum game with only winners and losers.  But we are not in competition with each other if we are cooperating with higher powers.  For in that cooperative relation there is plenty for all, and we need not fear running out of wealth, either personally or collectively.  The spiritualized soul recognizes that the act of giving itself is wealth in a higher form.  This is our true affluence—a word which means flows freely.  Personal prosperity is founded on and expressed through generosity. It is not those who have too little that are in poverty; it is those who wish for more than they need that are poor in spirit.

The sixth virtue is gratitude.  Gratitude is an active power drawing to us the good pleasure of God—the first attracting the second.  Gratitude works for prosperity by establishing good human relations and relations with divinity.  Grace is the root of gratitude, so we should be grateful for our innate virtues and use them to contribute to prosperity.  But gratitude must be sincere to be effective.

‘Abdul-Baha wrote: “There is a cordial thanksgiving, too, which expresses itself in the deeds and actions of man when his heart is filled with gratitude. For example, God has conferred upon man the gift of guidance, and in thankfulness for this great gift certain deeds must emanate from him. To express his gratitude for the favors of God man must show forth praiseworthy actions. In response to these bestowals he must render good deeds, be self-sacrificing, loving the servants of God, forfeiting even life for them, showing kindness to all the creatures.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace: 236)

It takes little effort to imagine what other kinds of deeds and “praiseworthy actions” would contribute to prosperity, besides the one’s the Master lists: self-sacrificing, loving the servants of God, showing kindness to all creatures.  The important point for this discussion is that we do these services for others to show our gratitude to God: we give because we have already received and thus have something to give.

Seventh is humility.  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was often likened to an ocean, not just because He seemed bigger than any situation, but also because His deep humility made Him put Himself lower than everyone else and thus serve them.  All waters flow to the ocean for it lies at the lowest point, yet the ocean is also the fount of all life.  So is service the fount of wealth in the moral economy.  Now a strange kind of happy math would happen if all were humble and serving others instead of being self-serving.  That is, if everyone is looking out for me, and not just me looking out for me, there is a lot more security and wealth for me, so long as I am looking out for others.  Hence, humility is not such total self-effacement that one feels unworthy to do anything, or that one has nothing to give.  Humility is an attitude that seeks out service; that always wishes to help.  It should be the chief quality of the leaders of humankind.

Steven Covey, author of Principle-Centered Leadership, writes: “You can’t have a oneness, a unity, without humility….The great servant leaders have that humility, the hallmark of inner religion.” (Principle-Centered Leadership: 92.)  I will complete the ten virtues in the next post.

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred, is http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a.  It is now also in Kindle.