tewards, Not Owners

We're at that time of the year again. When the whole world is getting set for extravagant spending. And, so, money becomes all the more important. Those who have it will flaunt their advantage. Those who don't will curse their lack. Among the poor, it is time to start being more visible to prospective benefactors - the people with the resources and the possible intention to give presents. It is time to be more courteous, more subservient to masters, superiors and moneyed neighbors. This is the usual gimmick in order to gain favors.

Even within the business sector, where the giving of bonuses to employees is both traditional and mandatory, many workers still suddenly turn extra nice to their bosses at this time of the year, hoping to receive additional gifts. And, very often, it works. The act would earn an extra hundred pesos, several packs of instant noodles and a slice of queso de bola.

It's amazing how the Christmas season brings out the generosity in people. Some would even beg just to have something to give. There's something about giving that's hard to explain. It makes the giver feel abundant, even if he's giving away the only thing he has.

But abundance is a curious thing, too. Material abundance can also bring out the bad in those who are blessed with it. Wealth can make people vain and self-important. It can breed arrogance.

For instance, many people become something else the moment they have money. They become high-handed, even towards their friends. They lose their manners, becoming brash where they used to be polite and gracious.

It's probably the feeling of power - economic power - that makes rich people throw their manners away. When you are powerful, you feel you are not bound by any rules; instead, you make the rules!  And that's a very ugly attitude to have.

People with money - although not all - feel that they own other people, just because they do them certain favors every once in a while. They think that their occasional generosity entitles them to full ownership of other people's time and servitude, other people's lives. This explains why many rich people behave they way they do towards the lowly others.

A person is not necessarily more knowledgeable or wiser or better just because he has more money. It may be only money that he has more of - not knowledge or wisdom or character. Unless, of course, he works hard on these aspects of himself, too. Or if, in the first place, these were the very factors that brought him his good luck. 

Rich people shall not be generally condemned for having much wealth. Some of them are truly deserving of their economic standing. Some of them remain humble despite their vast possessions. They are very kind and compassionate towards the less fortunate. And, interestingly, they seem to receive more as they give more and more.

"Stewards, not owners," they'd say, these rich people who have not been corrupted by their wealth. This mindset prompts them to generously share their blessings. They don't think that whatever they're in possession of is actually theirs; but that it's only temporarily put in their trust, to be distributed to others.

The same feeling is shared by the other rich people - those whose wealth is not money but skills, knowledge, or wisdom. They devote time in training the unskilled and teaching the uneducated. Mostly working for free, they find great fulfillment in helping others.

Rich people - in whatever form their riches may be - should be grateful, not boastful of their advantage in life. Ostentatious display of one's good fortune will only emphasize others' lack. And that's being so unkind and inconsiderate. Especially at this time when we're all supposed to be merry.