11/18/02
What is Sacred?
A recent thread on the Tracker School forum dealt with the question, "Is money sacred?" and the inevitable side-track, "What is 'sacred'?" Below are my thoughts. I decided to turn the post into a journal entry.
Let me first acknowledge my limitations as far as wisdom, knowledge,
and experience go - I don't believe I can fully or completely
accurately define "sacred." But for me, as far as I can feel, these
things are sacred: the skies, the earth, the trees, the stones, the
animals and plants, the skills and spirit that connect me to them.
These things are the basis of life - it seems as if all else is
simply an addition that serves some secondary purpose (though not
unimportant). Which of these things belong only to the world of the
flesh, and which belong also to the worlds beyond? Perhaps that
will help us better define (for ourselves) what is "sacred." Do you
think money (in and of itself) has a place in the Force? I'm not
sure. I think I agree with Kevin that it is, in essence, another
form of our time and energy. Money as a medium of exchange is so
universal that perhaps we are confusing that with sacredness,
just like people often believe that money can buy happiness.
A story from my life:
When I first began to get really interested in these skills, my
teacher warned me (just as a precaution; he didn't really think I
would, and I won't :) not to quit school and run off to the woods.
I looked at him funny and said, "Why would I?" Because the way I
see it, there's not one form of survival in the world, there's two.
They are entirely different in nature (which makes life all the more
interesting). One is survival in the woods, which requires a
certain set of skills and materials ("humans cannot survive in a
parking lot"). The other is survival in society, which requires
different skills and materials. One of those materials is money.
In the absence of a barter economy, money is exchanged for other
necessary (and not-so-necessary :) materials. I would be aware of
its characteristics and limitations, and careful not to confuse its
omnipresence (and usefulness) with sacredness. Fire is sacred, life
is sacred, the earth is sacred. Money is a wonderful tool.
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