I need to leave for work but can't help taking time to mention my current book, "Three Cups of Tea" about Greg Mortenson building schools in the remote hills in Pakistan. So far in my reading, he gets lost descending from K-2, is taken in to recuperate in the village of Korphe, and discovers that they have no school building and the children kneel in rows on the cold ground to study, with occasional visits from a shared teacher. He returns to the US fueled with the mission to build the village a school. To economize while he raises money for this, he sleeps in his car.
To Baha'is, this should start to sound familiar. Anyone? Anyone?
"And how I long to travel the world, in utmost poverty, and cry out, 'Ya Baha'ul'Abha."
Concurrently with this I've been thinking about the Right of God, the Baha'i voluntary tax with a formula based on conscience. One figures out how much of one's monetary worth is a luxury, i.e., not necessary for all bills, housing, etc etc. 19% of that luxury is due to this tax. However, the individual herself decides what is necessary and what is a luxury, and pays this only after all other bills and obligations are paid.
My original understanding was that one has to have amassed that amount of savings to pay this tax. Never in this world, I expect, will I actually save much money. My current understanding is this: to spend it, I had to have had it, even if I didn't save the money. So I have begun writing down my expenses so I can keep track and analyze how much of what I spend is actually necessary, with the plan to subsequently pay the Right of God on 19% of the rest. [Wherever I am wrong in my understanding, readers can always comment to put in their understanding.]
The business of keeping track of accounts is supremely ironic, since this was a household rule imposed by my former husband to control me, and which I ultimately renounced. Now I'm adopting the practice for my own reasons.
I'm starting to think differently about the huge amount of money I am spending for interest-only loans on my house, and how I could use that cash differently with some rearranging of my life.
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2 comments:
Sorry to hear that you were ill, but sometimes sleep and dreams are more important than blogging, so hang in there. I, too, just have been too busy to blog, learning how to rearrange our finances so we can breathe during Pilgrimage, etc. What a fascinating art it has become, this relationship to our resources.
Yes, I just read your blog about that. It sounds as if you are spending a lot of energy making lunches and so forth, though. I'm sure you will have plenty of breathing room in Israel. Once you are there, living expenses are not so different from here, except for paying for a place to stay, and taking sheruts or taxis a lot. Just have a good time!
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