"Money may be the husk of many things but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintance, but not friends; servants, but not loyalty; days of joy, but not peace or happiness." ~Henrik Ibsen
Someone has said: “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”
At a critical point in the Civil War Abraham Lincoln was distressed to learn that some of his most trusted officers had been leaking key secrets to the Confederates. The Secretary of War was pressing President Lincoln for a decision on what to do with the traitors. Lincoln replied by telling the story of a farmer who loved a large shade tree which stood as a sentinel near his home:
What was he going to do? If he cut it down, it could do great damage with its great length and spreading branches. If he let it remain, his family was in constant danger. In a storm it might fall, or the wind might blow it down, and his house and children could be crushed by it.
As the farmer turned away he said sadly, ‘I wish I had never seen that squirrel.’”
Since I heard this story I have thought how the stately but hollow tree is a metaphor for the dangers which occur when family wealth is transferred without meaning. Meaning is what prevents a family’s financial wealth from becoming a hollowed out façade that threatens the well-being of rising generations.
The farmer expressed remorse over the squirrel calling to his attention the flaw in the stately tree. I wonder, however, if the farmer shouldn’t have felt gratitude for the role of the squirrel in alerting him to the danger which he and his family were ignoring.
Is there a squirrel in your life who has helped you understand the importance of creating meaning for your life and around financial resources? What are you doing to make sure that this meaning doesn’t get disconnected from your family’s wealth?
"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money." —Cree Indian Proverb
Someone has said: “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”
At a critical point in the Civil War Abraham Lincoln was distressed to learn that some of his most trusted officers had been leaking key secrets to the Confederates. The Secretary of War was pressing President Lincoln for a decision on what to do with the traitors. Lincoln replied by telling the story of a farmer who loved a large shade tree which stood as a sentinel near his home:
It was a majestic looking tree, and apparently perfect in every way—tall and straight. One morning the farmer saw a squirrel run up the tree into a hole. The farmer proceeded to examine the stately tree and was surprised to find the tree hollow from top to bottom. Only a rim of sound wood remained, barely sufficient to support its weight. 
What was he going to do? If he cut it down, it could do great damage with its great length and spreading branches. If he let it remain, his family was in constant danger. In a storm it might fall, or the wind might blow it down, and his house and children could be crushed by it.
As the farmer turned away he said sadly, ‘I wish I had never seen that squirrel.’”
Since I heard this story I have thought how the stately but hollow tree is a metaphor for the dangers which occur when family wealth is transferred without meaning. Meaning is what prevents a family’s financial wealth from becoming a hollowed out façade that threatens the well-being of rising generations.
The farmer expressed remorse over the squirrel calling to his attention the flaw in the stately tree. I wonder, however, if the farmer shouldn’t have felt gratitude for the role of the squirrel in alerting him to the danger which he and his family were ignoring.
Is there a squirrel in your life who has helped you understand the importance of creating meaning for your life and around financial resources? What are you doing to make sure that this meaning doesn’t get disconnected from your family’s wealth?
"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money." —Cree Indian Proverb
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