A volatile stock market. Double digit returns long gone. Even some Wall Street "darlings" going belly-up. More and more layoffs, anxious college students and retired folk, piggy banks that don't rattle anymore. And if you are able to save a few hard-earned dollars, where do you stash them away? Is there any secure place left? "Of course there is," says Wallace Hawley, a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, California, and founder of InterWest Partners. He's also an elder in the Presbyterian church in Menlo Park.
"From a historical perspective, most years are very good," he says. "This doesn't mean we can't have bad ones, but why should we start with the premise that that's how it will be, as opposed to thinking that there could be some good opportunities for all of us."
After all, asks Hawley, what is net worth? "It's not just an item at the bottom of your personal balance sheet. It's what you are as an individual, and what you are reflecting of the kingdom of God."
You have to think beyond your cash position, your income, or your salary, he says, to things that are productive and truly worthwhile. "When you stand in front of God, hoping to hear 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' you can be sure those words won't be based on the net worth you built and kept."
Hawley smilingly poses that familiar question, "Why pray when you can worry?" Obviously, he says, people do a lot of worrying instead of praying. "But I find that to the extent that we pray, we eliminate the need for a lot of worry. I don't pray for specific things for myself, but to learn where to give. The more I give, the more God provides."
Shokrullah Ajdahi, an Iranian restaurateur who cooks up a phenomenal morasa polo at Marcello's on Newbury Street in Boston, is convinced that it's not the market but the mood that's been keeping his patrons away lately.
"They let the economy press down on them," he explains. "It's not that they don't have the money—it's what's in their heads. They're not happy. And when people are unhappy, they don't enjoy eating out. They don't spend easily. It's like they have nothing to celebrate.
"People forget that it's our thinking that rules our lives. It's our thoughts—not our wallets—that should be making decisions for us. We need fresh ideas for managing our lives, not more shining coins. We need more rivers, more birds singing, more sky!"
Frank Magwegwe saw plenty of sky as he sold vegetables from a street stand to make money for his university education in South Africa. Later, he worked as a financial futures trader with an international investment bank in Johannesburg, and is now setting up a futures brokerage company of his own.
He says he learned his most helpful lessons in financial management while out on the streets. "At first I focused almost entirely on just getting stock out, feeling I really had to get people to buy my vegetables, so that I could get enough money for my studies. I worried a lot, and I worked long hours.
"Then I thought, 'Why not pray about this? You've really been limiting yourself. You've got to broaden your thinking to include your customers. Are you thinking of their needs? Are your vegetables really fresh? Is your stand clean and attractive? Are you cheerful enough?'" Magwegwe learned a great deal about how to pray from Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health.
"You know, when I uplifted my thought like that," he says, "the business grew to a point where I had to employ two more people to help me. All sorts of good things happened to me when I took a spiritual view of the situation.
"Now, as a futures broker, I am watching the [South African] rand depreciating against the major currencies every five to ten minutes. The papers are full of it. But I am finding strength by knowing that in the divine Mind there is no imbalance—just perfect equilibrium. Supply is guaranteed to meet demand. It's effortless. Reliable. Everything is in harmony."
Ella Auchincloss spent 12 years as a sales trader on Wall Street and is now investing her energies in raising two children.
"In times of financial uncertainty I've always trusted in God's provision," she says, "and I have never, ever been let down. There have been moments when I have believed that I needed to take a more proactive role in making a particular decision, but, through prayer, God has shown me that I need to trust Him. He has proven to me over and over again that He is the steward of my finances—the best steward I could possibly have."
These business professionals clearly recognize the need for sound financial analysis, and a grasp of economic trends and performance. But their experiences also show that there are other things of vital significance—unselfish motives, spiritual purpose, prayer and intuition, an impersonal seeking God's will and direction.
Personal ability, education, rich relatives, the stock market, even money in the bank are not the true source of good or stability. A portfolio that is spiritual in nature reveals infinite possibilities, surprising opportunities, and bountiful supply. This is the basis for recognizing our own and the market's real potential and discovering what is truly satisfying, dependable—and secure.
Used by permission www.spirituality.com
