Saturday, March 22, 2008

An Easter Message for Business

It doesn't matter if you're Catholic or not (I'm not), the Pope's call for introspection into our thoughts & actions in our life & business would greatly benefit the soul of this nation and its people.

"...As the ability to work and function in the market system is a gift from God, it must be carried out according to moral precepts. Thus, a moral code must be present and alive in everyday business life.

Every person, Christian believer or not, has by nature a sense of morality instilled by the Divine. In cartoon terms, it is the Jiminy Cricket who whispers, “Let your conscience be your guide.” But what about those who reject the gift? They can do this in the business world by corrupting the marketplace with immoral acts or by simply choosing not to work. (The word choose is key because there are people who cannot work.) Those who of their own volition do not work choose instead to rely on the labor of others. They diminish not only their own dignity but also that of those working around them.

Those who corrupt the marketplace take the gift but use it toward an illegitimate end. In such cases, the dollar becomes God. It is no longer a symbol of exchange and a useful tool but the goal in and of itself. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells his followers not to seek only riches but a higher goal, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:19–21).