9.01.09

How we handle money is a topic that Jesus discussed as much as any other issue. Tonight an Otter Creek member who has training in budgeting and personal finances accompanied me to the spirituality class that I teach at Mending Hearts. The idea was to spend some time talking with the women about money issues as this is one of the main triggers that addicts must address if they are to maintain their sobriety.

As we headed to the meeting we discussed the topics he was planning to cover and it became clear to both of us that his training and prior experience had not exposed him to many of the issues that people living near the poverty line, earning the minimum wage and dealing with multiple levels of dysfunction must face. Issues of mortgages don’t really mean anything to most of them – they rent. When he considered issues of debt he hadn’t had a lot of exposure to title loan companies, pay day advance companies and pawn shops – that’s the world they live in. Having and maintaining a checking account is a given as a way to transact and operate within his world – he had not had much exposure to people being turned down in their request to open up a checking account because they have a long term overdrawn account at the bank – they just walked away from the problem a few years ago and never attempted to settle up with the bank on it.

Much to his credit, the instructor did a great job of introducing topics to the group that we were able to discuss. The idea of budgeting as well as the idea of how to manage cash flow was a topic that everyone seemed very interested in. Recognizing our tendencies to spend a few dollars here and there on things like getting their nails done rather than saving the money touched nerve that just about everyone could identify with. So overall the experience for the women in the class was positive. A few seemed interested in setting up a follow-up meeting to go into details about their specific situation.

But as we were driving home I got to hear what he learned from the night. “No one ever talks about how you have to rethink having $20 for discretionary money when you’re talking with a crack addict”, he said. I’ve encourage him to reflect on his impressions and what he learned about the evening. I continue to be impressed with the fact that when we get out of our comfort zone and seek to serve those in need with the gifts and talents we have, that we come away being more blessed than those we intended to serve. It really is more blessed to give than to receive…