Charles Dickens’Dombey and Son was first published in 1848 but still retains its importance. Dombey, a successful businessman, longs for a son to follow his career. He ignores his first child, a daughter, but is elated when Paul was born although Paul’s mother died giving him birth.
I read Dombey and Son years ago, but I have not forgotten the fireplace scene where five-year-old Paul asks his Papa,“What is money?” The interaction between the industrialist “Papa” and his son is too lengthy to recapture here, but its thoughtful reading is highly recommended.
Dombey replies superficially, but Paul bears down, honestly wanting to know “What is money?”
“Gold, and silver, and copper. Guineas, shillings, halfpence. You know what they are?”
“Oh yes, I know what they are,” said Paul. “I don’t mean that, Papa. I mean, what’s money after all?”
“I mean, Papa, what can it do?”
“What is money after all!” said Mr. Dombey. “Money, Paul, can do anything.”
“Yes. Anything—almost,” said Mr. Dombey.
“Anything means everything, doesn’t it, Papa?” asked his son, not observing, or possibly not understanding the qualification.
“It includes it: yes,” said Mr. Dombey.
“Why didn’t money save me, my Mama?” returned the child. “It isn’t cruel, is it?”
“Cruel!” said Mr. Dombey, settling his neckcloth, and seeming to resent the idea. “No. A good thing can’t be cruel.”
“If it’s a good thing, and can do anything,” said the little fellow, thoughtfully, as he looked back at the fire, “I wonder why it didn’t save my Mama.”
Years ago, I read the Dickens’ fireplace scene aloud to the students in my UVA Mental Health class. My emotional response shocked me. Tears filled my eyes and altered my voice. The students had listened intently to the story, and quietly respected my unintended emotions, so different from my usual erudite manner.
Ordinarily sensitive but shy, I rarely show my feelings publicly. What is in these words that touched my heart? Why did it emotionally undress me in front of my students?
It is an example of the importance of an experience, even one with a meaning outside our awareness, that may later be discovered at a sensible level.
My mother died five decades ago on the same day she received notice that my education and training were successfully completed, the culmination of her countless prayers for me and my family.
Due to complexities too difficult to explain here, I never grieved for my mother, who loved me beyond description and for whom my love was matchless.
My mother believed strongly in not worrying her children about financial matters, especially when it came to a shortage of money. Dombey’s tender love for his 5 year old son grabbed my heart the way innocent suffering of little children always upsets me. Dombey would have done anything for little Paul, but neither he nor his money saved Paul’s mother.
I felt the stinging pain piercing Dombey’s heart.
I felt Dombey’s helplessness, comparing it to my mother who loved her children, through the great depression, dependent on government and charities for food, medical care, and work for my father.
I recall a favorite movie, “I Remember Mama” (1948), a drama based on Kathryn Forbes’ book “Mama’s Bank Account.”
It portrays a Norwegian immigrant family’s struggles in 1910 San Francisco, their devoted Mama shielding her children from poverty by saying weekly, “It’s good – we do not have to go to the bank.” Much later, we learn that the family had no bank account.
Saddest of all, I made financial promises to our children that I did not keep.
The relationship between happiness and money is complex. Neither happiness nor a sense of well-being is based on what one has but on what one is and does that is virtuous.
Money can buy a bed but not sleep. Money can buy people but not friends. Money can buy luxury but not peace of mind. Contentment is spiritual.
We have a spiritual nature. We sense it as a part of our mind, emotions, and will. We have difficulty describing our spiritual self but acknowledge its authentic, truthful reality when experienced personally or observed in others.
Our spiritual self recognizes the necessity of establishing a loving relationship with a spiritual force or power whose nature is loving, protective, forgiving, and all-mighty. God prefers to be called by His name, not a “higher power.”
Christians believe God sent Jesus to save humanity from itself (sin). Key concepts include Jesus’s Crucifixion and Resurrection on the third day. “The Risen Jesus is the Ascended Lord.”
Jesus’ crucifixion is often described as a financial transaction in which Jesus “paid” in full the debt of our sin.
Christianity began in the 1st century with Jesus of Nazareth and is now the largest religion, having over two billion adherents. Its major branches are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism.
Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ’s incarnation and death were central to God’s salvation plan for humanity, starting after Adam’s Fall. Believers aim for eternal life with God by following His will and loving Him and their neighbors.
There are 200 Christian denominations in the US, and 45,000 worldwide.
Christians regard the Bible as God’s inspired word. The readability of its books varies due to different writing styles. The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible has an 8th grade reading level.
Jesus wanted his mission to be understandable even to a child.
The Bible contains roughly 2,350 verses that address the topic of money. This is more than twice the number of verses about faith and prayer combined. Jesus himself spoke about money in roughly 15% of his teachings and in 16 out of his 38 parables.
According to scripture, God is loving, omnipresent, aware of our needs, and provides them in our best interests.
Money matters to God.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” Proverbs 11:28.
A Christian since I was 12, I have been a member of four denominations over the years. Presently, I attend two Zoom Bible classes each week where I study, learn, and try to apply biblical teachings to the way I live. The fellowship among fellow Christians highlights my week and is inspiring.
Jesus’ crucifixion opened the way to live eternally in heaven. We do not earn it, buy it, or go there without the grace of God and our faith in Him and His righteousness.
I was a physician to the poor, the rich, the suffering, and, as a forensic psychiatrist, even to those who caused others to suffer.
Long ago, a wealthy Christian couple was challenged by many miseries of life. They worried about the meaning of Jesus’ statements regarding the spiritual difficulties of the rich:
“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Luke 18:25.
Jesus teaches us to place our faith in Him, not in our possessions. The Bible urges us to have nothing in our lives more important than our love for Jesus, God in the flesh.
A 55-year-old depressed man with a history of two suicide attempts was asked, “Why do you feel your life has been a failure?”
“I’ve never had an office. I conduct most of my business on a golf course, I’m only worth 40 million dollars, and all my friends are worth at least a 100 million dollars. I am a failure.”
He learned to correct his cognitive errors, found meaning in life, and looked forward to a happier future, including flying with other businessmen at the request of President Nixon on the first flight to China.
Appeals for money fill our TV screens and mail, but the percentage of a donation that goes to the actual charity varies widely, ranging from a few percentage points to as high as 98%.
CharityWatch is America’s most independent and proactive charity watchdog. For more information, visit www.charitywatch.org.
Attend and support a church that teaches the Bible.
At the age of five, Dombey’s son Paul posed a question that many do not contemplate even at thirty-five. The response to this inquiry has the potential to profoundly influence our lives.
If Paul were to ask, “What is money?” How would you reply?
Furthermore, when asked by Jesus to present your checkbook or credit card, will it reflect the maturity of your Christian Spiritual Self?
Robert S. Brown, MD, PHD a retired Psychiatrist, Col (Ret) U.S. Army Medical Corps devoted the last decade of his career to treating soldiers at Fort Lee redeploying from combat. He was a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Education at UVA. His renowned Mental Health course taught the value of exercise for a sound mind.