AS WE APPROACH the new year, the more fortunate among us will be taking time to organize their lives by rebalancing their financial portfolios and considering new investments. While taking care of your cash, it’s important to remember that a wise teacher once said, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy.” I still don’t know what vermin is (it’s probably bad because it’s in the same sentence as moths), but I think the teacher might have been telling us that in addition to tending to our finances, we should also tend to our spiritual portfolios.
If you’re wondering about how exactly to do this, here are three rules to spiritual wealth that I think will prove helpful.
Rule One: Diversify. As you consider which spiritual resources to invest in, it’s important to engage with a wide variety of topics and issues. Sure, all those Enneagram (stock symbol: ENGRM) books might seem interesting and cool, but I guarantee you that if 99 percent of your portfolio is Enneagram-themed, your long-term growth possibilities are limited. (Note: My own Enneagram type is the one that’s skeptical of things like the Enneagram.)
Rule Two: Individual spiritual stocks can be very volatile; it’s better to put your money into balanced spirit funds. Spirit funds are a basket of spiritual goods that reflect the entirety of a particular spiritual market. Look for a spirit fund that invests in faith and justice. It would be wrong for me to suggest that you invest in Sojourners (SOJO on the ticker), since I receive a free copy of Sojourners magazine every time I write for them, and thus have a clear conflict of interest in the matter. Although every issue raises up the overlooked voices of schoolteachers moonlighting as humor columnists and other such, ahem, prophets, so you can’t go wrong with that.
Rule Three: Buy as many shares of Bible (BIBL) as you can. Or find them for free in a hotel room drawer near you. This is the IBM of spiritual commodities—its IPO was more than 2,000 years ago, and while its popularity has ebbed and flowed over the years, you can pretty much be guaranteed of a good return on the investment.
If you’re considering buying other individual spiritual stocks, look closely to see if the resource aligns with BIBL. For instance, Christian nationalism (WOLFINSHEEPCLOTH) has been a hot commodity of late, but it’s only a matter of time before its price plummets and the fruits of the spirit (YOUWILLKNOWTHEM) take its place on the charts.
Bottom line, as you take stock (see what I did there?) of your spiritual investments—or your financial portfolio—make sure you count the cost. You’ll need to be, to coin a phrase, shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves every step of the way. Because when it comes time for the final profit-and-loss statement, it will be a sorting of the sheep from the goats, not the bears from the bulls.
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