Do money and morals and ethics and economics have to be mismatched pairs? Recent scandals involving prominent businesses and the less than ethical behavior among the ranks of famous athletes makes me wonder.

The “swiping” policy of Visa is a money and morals issue that caught the eye of the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ, “Walmart has sued Visa for more than $5 billion, claiming the card network charged unreasonably high fees when the retailer’s customers paid with plastic . . . Wal-Mart alleges that Visa violated antitrust regulations and generated more than $350 billion for card issuers over nine years, in part at the expense of the retailer and its customers.”

Apparently, corporations and individuals need to examine the morals clause of the Bible.

• Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights ~Leviticus 19:36
• The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but an accurate weight is his delight ~Proverbs 11:1
• Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains. But you, as a person dedicated to God, keep away from all that. Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness ~I Timothy 6:9-11

Money is not the problem, but the love of money is. The love of money warped the wisdom of Judas Iscariot, and he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

When I think of money and morals, I think of Bernard Madoff. His ethical backbone had the substance of a sponge. His love for money sowed the seeds of mistrust, ruined friendships, and robbed his investors of their retirements.

The word “moral” has a root meaning associated with the idea of “character, custom or habit.” This begs the question: If the character is tainted, can the habit be sainted?

The words of Horace Greeley offer an appropriate conclusion: “Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures.”

A mentor once said, “To be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid.” I think I’ve solved the “young” part of his regimen; however, I find that I’m still prone to fits and spasms of stupidity.

Even though I’m a high school graduate (EHS class of ’71), have both my B.A. and M.S., I think it’s my S.H.C degree that has been the most beneficial. The latter degree was awarded from the highly esteemed School of Hard Knocks.

Let me share a few of the lessons that I have learned along the way.

1. Be careful who you challenge to a fight: When you pick a fight with a trained boxer, you get your ears boxed.

2. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should: With the skill of Spiderman I climbed up the outside of the old Junior High and fell as I was crawling in a second story window. Yes, all the way to the ground.

3. Even though Mr. Blackmore goes inside his office, you should respect his rope rules. Another fall—this time it was from the top of the ropes to the floor of the old gym.

4. Big feet do not fit through small holes, and basement walls break hands. The fashion fad at the time (8th grade) was Super Slim Levis, and anyone who has ever known me knows a couple of things: First, super slim has never been an adjective used to provide an accurate description of my physical dimensions. Second, I’ve never been accused of having small feet. I’ll leave it to you to discern what I did because my big foot got stuck in the small leg hole of the pants.

5. When the hand-writing on the wall is read, you better not be the author–you just might become a ghost writer!

6. Never light fireworks in the house or you will burn a hole in the carpet and Mom will smolder.

7. With thanks to Jim Croce, I also learned that you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, spit in the wind, or pull the mask off the Lone Ranger.

When my children were just kids, they asked me one day: “Dad if you could go back and start your life all over, would you want to?” I replied: “Not if I had to have the experience of living through all of my stupid mistakes again.”

I’ve received an education from my experiences; however there is a difference between the two: Education is what you receive when you read the fine print; experience is the result of not reading it; and, as Rita Mae Brown said: “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”

8. Here’s one more. Life can be incredibly short, so take the time to make memories. I’m so grateful for the memories I have of my dad: baseball, fishing, hunting, the sound of his whistle and his voice as he sang in the shower.

When I was 12, I was eager for the arrival of my 13th birthday because I wanted to be a teenager. When birthday number 15 arrived, I began the countdown to February 16, 1969. I wanted to be 16 so I could drive.

At some point along the path of my life, I quit rounding up. I was no longer worried about being 12 1/2 or 15 1/2. Even though the want and desire to be a year older lessens with age, it seems that much of a person’s life is spent wanting more of one thing and less of another.

Life can be frustrating. I’ve always wanted fewer calories, another dip of ice cream, and more hot fudge to top it all off.

If you spend your life longing for riches galore, you may have less and end up poor. Jesus focused on this issue, when He asked: “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

The focus of our energy shouldn’t be just worldly goods. Paul said our focus should be in another direction: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Since the key to contentment is the content of your life, what are you full of?

The pages of the Bible are littered with the names of discontented people who allowed their desires and longings to rule them:
• God gave Adam and Eve everything with the exception of fruit from one tree. Because they weren’t satisfied, humanity died.
• Jacob wanted more and through an act of deception he ran off with the birthright that belonged to his brother.
• Joseph’s brothers wanted more attention from their father and less interference from their little brother, so they sold Joseph as a slave.
• Samson was the strongman of his day and could whip anyone or anything, except his desires. He was a puny 90 pound weakling when it came to controlling them.
• The list wouldn’t be complete without mention of David. He was king and had everything he desired. Things were going great until he desired another man’s wife—Bathsheba.

The discontentment of the soul is the hollowness of humanity. It is a hunger pang that can only be satisfied by tasting the Bread of Life. It is the thirst of dry throats and parched lips that can only be quenched by the Water of Life.

Saul was driven by the awful power of discontent. He was searching for that elusive something to satisfy his deepest longings. What Saul did not realize is that while he was searching, Jesus was seeking, and when the two of them met on the Damascus Road, Saul had a truly life-changing experience.

Later Paul (Saul) would write: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).”

You can search the world over, but you will never find anything that will fulfill you and complete you. The only hope for true contentment is a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Psalmist expressed this in Psalm 62 where he spoke of God as being his rock, fortress, and salvation.

If you’re unsatisfied and searching, there is hope, and His name is Jesus.