This week’s column was inspired by a joke an old Morehouse College buddy sent me last week. The joke still has me on the floor rolling with laughter. I have cleaned the joke up quite a bit so that it won’t offend the delicate ears of some of my readers. 

A crusty old man walks into the local First Baptist Church and says to the secretary, 'I would like to join this Satan filled church.
The astonished woman replies, 'I beg your pardon, sir.  I must have misunderstood you.  What did you say?'
 
'Listen up, nutty woman.  I said I want to join this Satan filled church!'
 'I'm very sorry sir, but that kind of language is not tolerated in this church.' The secretary who happens to be the pastor’s grandmother leaves her desk and goes into the pastor's study to inform him of her situation.  The pastor agrees that the secretary, his grandmother does not have to listen to that foul language. They both return to her office and the pastor asks the old geezer, 'Sir, what seems to be the problem here?' ‘There is no dog gone problem,' the man says.  'I just won $200 million bucks in the dog gone lottery and I want to join this Satan filled church to get rid of some of this dog gone money.'
'I see,' said the pastor.  'And is this “witch” giving you a hard time?'  

Do we love money too much? The Love of money has forever been in disrepute with moralists. The moralists have assigned the love of money to the lowest place in the scale of human affections. It is the love of money that distinguishes us most from lower animals. Even the lower animals love life. They have no affection for money. Everyone longs for some kind of wealth. 

To support my theory that people love money I asked a man the following question: “What would you do if someone came and offered you a million dollars for one of your children?” He quickly replied that he would reject the offer, but make a counter offer for his wife. We laughed and he admitted that he would not even take a million dollars for his wife, but would take a month supply of food stamps for his mother-in-law. 

A very wealthy friend once commented to me that “money sure makes folks happy!” I didn’t think much of the comment because I have always believed that you can’t buy happiness, but I must confess I’ve reached the point that I salivate at the mouth when I see him pull out that worn out check book! Buddha tells us that giving leads to being reborn in happy states and material wealth. The reverse to this philosophy is that refusing to give leads to unhappy states and poverty. Simply put, the more we give- and the more we give without seeking something in return-the wealthier we will become. 

We must also remember that if rich folks did not give some of their wealth to the poor, then the poor would rebel. Money, Money, Money you gotta love it!

In the words of my dad: “Stay away from the pig ears and fried pork chops.  Eat more fruits and vegetables.”

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com or write to him at P.O. Box 250194 Montgomery, Alabama 36125-0194.