Love, the root of all good

When we were children, our parents sometimes told my sisters and me that "Money does not grow on trees."

To prove them wrong, my sister Kathryn and I selected a spot in the garden and planted some coins which we watered daily. We were convinced that the plants that subsequently sprung up in that spot were money trees and we tended to them dutifully...until Daddy, a botanist, broke the news to us that they were weeds.

Would the world be different if money did grow on trees? Would there still be greed and corruption? Would people still seek employment? Would there still be suffering or dire need because of financial lack? Would money lose its value because it is easily available? Would there be another material item upon which humans place such immense value that it is considered the "root of all evil?"

Why is money not considered "the root of all good?" It could be if we humans were generally inclined to make it so.

Recently a friend of mine created a GoFundMe account to help raise funds for a beloved, cancer-stricken friend of hers who had travelled to the US to seek alternative healing treatment. Unfortunately, while travelling, her friend contracted covid and was hospitalised in critical condition in Florida, completely alone, without the physical presence of loved ones, who were unable to fly up to be with her.

As her health deteriorated rapidly, doctors concluded that she was unable to fly on a commercial aircraft and that an air ambulance would be the only means of fulfilling her life’s greatest wish – to return home to Guadeloupe to be with loved ones.

With time being critical, the race was on to raise U$35,000 for the air ambulance. The GoFundMe link was sent out with hopes of a swift acquisition of the required funds.

The sharing of an important GoFundMe link is no guarantee that each person who receives it (even if they know the person requiring the urgent funds or the person who initiated the fundraiser) will be inclined to contribute to the cause, even if some are sufficiently wealthy to pay the entire bill without blinking an eyelash. A few people contributed generously to the campaign, but the bulk of donations that steadily helped the total to climb was made by people who gave in smaller amounts

In the biblical story of the poor widow, Jesus is with his disciples at the temple and observes rich people putting large sums of money into the treasury. When a poor widow comes along and humbly offers two copper coins, Jesus points out to the disciples that she has given more than the rich. After all, those two copper coins may have been all she had.

Over four days, the multiple donations to the GoFundMe campaign inspired the following update:

"Bridgette and her family are deeply touched and moved by the continuous outpouring of love that we have seen from all of you, many of whom may not know her. You have been an example to the rest of the world and have demonstrated true human kindness and compassion for another human being, in her greatest time of need."

As I write this, my friend who flew to Florida on Wednesday is about to board the air ambulance with her critically-ill friend, to accompany her (along with the love and prayers of many) to Guadeloupe, bringing to fruition the campaign's hashtag: #BringBrigitteHome

A friend in Canada recently wrote about a street-dweller whom she often helped. In one part of her account, she says: “I once invited him to see a movie with me at the Princess, and he insisted on paying for popcorn from the coins he'd received from that day's panhandling, which he kept in a dirty white tube sock with a knot at the top. Rest in Peace, dear Anatole Rybas. (1952-2022)”

Of everything that my Canadian friend wrote about her heartfelt experiences with Anatole, it was that gesture on his part which touched me deeply and spoke volumes of the kind of person he must have been.

"I remember one time apologising to him because I didn’t have a loonie to spare until payday, and he very excitedly started to offer me a gift of coins from his daily earnings,” she told me. “I turned him down, of course.”

Love is the currency that will move this world to experience its highest good. Throughout our lives, it is love, not money, that is our most important investment, our purest motivation and the greatest legacy we leave behind.