the image of the tyrant

St Ambrose talks to us in no uncertain terms about hoarding wealth today in A Year with the Church Fathers.

He says we should be careful not to replace the image of God which was placed in us when we were created, with the image of the tyrant, which we begin to see in ourselves when we hoard wealth.

The Picture of Dorian Grey comes to mind. We don't want even our hidden selves to be turned into a dreadful monster by the wealth which we can be tempted to keep storing up in this lifetime.

Just a note about storing up... it is shown to be wise to store up if you know that lean times are coming, as in the case of Joseph in Egypt. But we have to be careful that we're not storing wealth simply out of avarice (greed... the love of money itself) or out of a lack of trust in God to take care of our needs.

The take home lesson this week is to give. Give away some of the wealth you've accumulated. Help those who need it. Believe me, there are those who need it. How can we claim to have God's love in our hearts if we see our friend in need and don't help them? (1 John 3:17)

God, please help us to be generous... like You are.