Greed is a Monkey Trap

The definition of GREED:
Everything we own -- owns us.

(from: Bishop Peña's Weekly Column) African hunters have learned to capture monkeys by exploiting their greed. The hunters cut a coconut in two and scrape out the insides, leaving the shell. Then they cut a hole in the center of one half just big enough for a monkey to put its hand through. Next, they put an orange in the coconut, join the two halves together, and hang it on a tree.

Eventually a monkey smells the orange and looks for it until it finds it inside the coconut. The monkey slips its hand in through the hole, grasps the orange, and tries to extract it, but can’t, because the orange is larger than the hole. Completely absorbed in its struggle to extract the orange, the monkey becomes oblivious of everything else, including the hunters who now emerge from hiding to throw their nets over it. Even if the monkey sees the hunters, it invariably clings to the orange until its freedom is lost.

This story conveys a stark message: Anyone who clings too tightly to ambition or greed of any kind can lose his freedom. In fact, to be consumed by the pursuit of worldly goods is already to live in a state of bondage. It is not that the pursuit of worldly goods is in itself wrong. No, God created the world to be a garden of delights for us and it is certainly right and proper to pursue the necessities of life.

The problem is the inordinate desire for worldly goods. It is the problem of never being content and always wanting more. It is placing our hopes for happiness on maximizing our acquisition of what the world has to offer.

Read Bishop Peña's complete column here

Diocese of Brownsville
Each week Bishop Peña will examine some of the root causes of our moral transgressions. These are traditionally called the seven capital sins: pride, anger, lust, greed, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

An after -thought -- here is an interesting take on the whole monkey trap:
Instead of letting go of the orange the monkeys are "stuck" there, seemingly helpless. And there they demonstrate another trait — learned helplessness

A classic example: "I hate to put my kids into daycare but what choice do I have? We have a huge mortgage, the two car payments are astronomical, the new pool has tripled our water bill, we're planning a trip to DisneyWorld and my personal trainer is sooo expensive. I HAVE to work away from home full time just tomake ends meet. I have no choice!"

I actually have heard this kind of "learned helplessness" described many times! Root? Greed. I have to confess that this has made me stop and re-access my values. Good questions come to mind.
What am I holding onto that is not important to the salvation of our souls that costs my family and me in the way of:
money
time
energy
worry
distraction