Does your soul have a price tag? My kids, Malik and Amir, love to play this game where they give me these ridiculous circumstances of life and ask me if I would do or experience certain things for a certain amount of money. For example, for $500,000 would you eat someone else’s vomit? Or, for $10,000,000 would you give up the gift of one of your five senses like sight, or hearing. While this game sometimes can be a bit daunting because they love to present me with the most insane and unimaginable options for the most astronomical amounts of money, it does cause one to explore this notion on a more realistic level. When I think of the state of our world, nation, and more specifically our cities, it begs the question, what amount of money causes one to turn a blind eye, or ignore the convictions of ones own conscience (assuming they have one)?
In my professional experiences I have witnessed many individuals become oppressors of the very one’s they seemingly were advocates for as they pursued higher salaries. In most cases the higher salary came directly at the expense of the one’s they claimed to advocate for. I am in no way suggesting that seeking greater financial compensation is wrong; I too enjoy the finer things of life that only money can buy. However, I believe that when it comes to life's essentials: food, shelter, education, health care, and safety, my Soul has a line that is drawn in the sand, and I have decided that there is no amount of money worth crossing to the side that causes other’s to suffer and go without for my own selfish gain. My conscience will not allow it. Sadly, the people I mention before who were chasing after money, they also articulated the belief that they would never cross that line either.
What about you? How much does your line cost to cross? Or do you even have a line?
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