The Camel and the Eye of the Needle
from The Wealthy Spirit Daily Affirmation by Chellie Campbell
“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he only had good intentions.
He had money as well.”—Margaret Thatcher
When I started thinking about become a prosperous person, I hit a stumbling
block. There was a quote from the Bible that worried me for a long time: “It’s
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man
to get into heaven.” (I thought for a while it didn’t say rich woman, but
somehow I knew that qualification wasn’t going to fly.) I wanted to be a rich
person, but I wanted to be a good person and hopefully go to heaven, too.
How was I going to do both? I knew that, as a spiritual person, if I felt that
money was going to corrupt me, I wasn’t going to allow it into my life. And for
years, I didn’t.
Then, one evening, I happened across a television program that featured
several religious scholars examining some Biblical statements, taking into
account the geography, culture and the era in which it was written. I heard
one scholar mention the above quotation and comment that most people
misunderstood it. He said that people thought that the needle mentioned
was a common sewing needle and therefore, of course, it was impossible for
a camel to get through it’s eye. But this scholar laughed and said that “The
Eye of the Needle” was the name of a gate in the wall of Jerusalem. And a
camel could easily get through it—a moderately laden camel, that is, not a
heavily laden camel. This changes the entire message. To me, this suggests
that the lesson was only an admonishment to be balanced about wealth, and
not overdo it to the point of overburdening your camel!
Leo J. Fishbeck, in his book Sing Your Song For All You’re Worth states “A
careful study of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, reveals that the
people who were considered to be the most spiritual, those who were the
great contributors to enlightened thinking, the most highly regarded, were
usually very wealthy people—millionaires by our standards. As we read
about their many accomplishments we find that, usually, the account ends
with the statement, ‘And he was favored by God.’ According to the ancient
authors of the Scriptures, there must be a connection between prosperity
and Spirituality."
Money is a neutral. It will not corrupt you—only your use of it will. The choice
to use money for good is always available to you. It is the wealthy who set up
charitable foundations, endow hospitals, establish scholarships, promote art,
literature, theater, etc. Ted Turner donated one billion dollars to the United
Nations. Bill and Melinda Gates funded a charitable foundation with more
than twenty billion dollars. You can’t do things like that if you’re broke.
Examine your old beliefs. Are they facts—or just opinions? Are they
refutable? Investigate. If they aren’t producing good things in your life,
replace them with better thoughts.
Today’s Affirmation: “The perfect order of the Universe is abundance for
everyone—including me!”
A LITTLE ABOUT CHELLIE . . .
Chellie Campbell is the creator of the popular Financial Stress Reduction®
Workshops, and the author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire,
both published by Sourcebooks, Inc. She's contributed stories to Jack
Canfield’s recent books You’ve Got to Read This Book! and Life Lessons
from Chicken Soup for the Soul, and is prominently quoted as a financial
expert in The Los Angeles Times, Pink, Good Housekeeping, Lifetime,
Essence, Woman’s World and more than 35 popular books. For more
information, visit her web site www.Chellie.com or email her at
Chellie@Chellie.com
Copyright © 2008 Chellie
from The Wealthy Spirit Daily Affirmation by Chellie Campbell
“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he only had good intentions.
He had money as well.”—Margaret Thatcher
When I started thinking about become a prosperous person, I hit a stumbling
block. There was a quote from the Bible that worried me for a long time: “It’s
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man
to get into heaven.” (I thought for a while it didn’t say rich woman, but
somehow I knew that qualification wasn’t going to fly.) I wanted to be a rich
person, but I wanted to be a good person and hopefully go to heaven, too.
How was I going to do both? I knew that, as a spiritual person, if I felt that
money was going to corrupt me, I wasn’t going to allow it into my life. And for
years, I didn’t.
Then, one evening, I happened across a television program that featured
several religious scholars examining some Biblical statements, taking into
account the geography, culture and the era in which it was written. I heard
one scholar mention the above quotation and comment that most people
misunderstood it. He said that people thought that the needle mentioned
was a common sewing needle and therefore, of course, it was impossible for
a camel to get through it’s eye. But this scholar laughed and said that “The
Eye of the Needle” was the name of a gate in the wall of Jerusalem. And a
camel could easily get through it—a moderately laden camel, that is, not a
heavily laden camel. This changes the entire message. To me, this suggests
that the lesson was only an admonishment to be balanced about wealth, and
not overdo it to the point of overburdening your camel!
Leo J. Fishbeck, in his book Sing Your Song For All You’re Worth states “A
careful study of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, reveals that the
people who were considered to be the most spiritual, those who were the
great contributors to enlightened thinking, the most highly regarded, were
usually very wealthy people—millionaires by our standards. As we read
about their many accomplishments we find that, usually, the account ends
with the statement, ‘And he was favored by God.’ According to the ancient
authors of the Scriptures, there must be a connection between prosperity
and Spirituality."
Money is a neutral. It will not corrupt you—only your use of it will. The choice
to use money for good is always available to you. It is the wealthy who set up
charitable foundations, endow hospitals, establish scholarships, promote art,
literature, theater, etc. Ted Turner donated one billion dollars to the United
Nations. Bill and Melinda Gates funded a charitable foundation with more
than twenty billion dollars. You can’t do things like that if you’re broke.
Examine your old beliefs. Are they facts—or just opinions? Are they
refutable? Investigate. If they aren’t producing good things in your life,
replace them with better thoughts.
Today’s Affirmation: “The perfect order of the Universe is abundance for
everyone—including me!”
A LITTLE ABOUT CHELLIE . . .
Chellie Campbell is the creator of the popular Financial Stress Reduction®
Workshops, and the author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire,
both published by Sourcebooks, Inc. She's contributed stories to Jack
Canfield’s recent books You’ve Got to Read This Book! and Life Lessons
from Chicken Soup for the Soul, and is prominently quoted as a financial
expert in The Los Angeles Times, Pink, Good Housekeeping, Lifetime,
Essence, Woman’s World and more than 35 popular books. For more
information, visit her web site www.Chellie.com or email her at
Chellie@Chellie.com
Copyright © 2008 Chellie
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