Gift giving and receiving continue to be important parts of Christmas and birthdays for me. In my childhood and youth, the expectations of unopened presents was a major part of the season. In my grade school years, my brother and I kept track of the presents as they piled up under the tree. We counted each one and knew exactly which ones had our names on them. Our excitement grew as Christmas day drew near. The unwrapped gifts, however, seldom if ever met my expectations. I was looking for something a package couldn’t contain. In my maturity, I realize that I was looking, and still am, to be seen and loved.

Even knowing this, I have yet to learn how to find gifts to accomplish it. The gifts I get that come the closest to my heart’s longing are invitations to share outings or adventures. I’m trying to find gifts that do the same for others. Yet, in spite of “things” not making the grade as gifts given or received, sharing Christmas and birthdays with loved ones and friends continues to be priceless. It’s not the gifts per se but that at the heart of these gatherings is our family and our faith community celebrating one another and the mysteries of love. The things money can buy are at best symbols of the love.

This is probably old news to you. But it still is good news. And it is radical news when the story I’m telling becomes a metaphor for our materialistic culture. An important gift I received this season was the recommendation of a book, which I then bought, David Korten’s “Change the Story, Change the Future.” Korten sees the expectations of our western culture based in what he calls “the story of Sacred Money and Markets.”

While reading about this, I was reminded of my revulsion to then-President Reagan’s appeal to Americans to help the country get out of its sluggish economy by shopping more. He equated consumer spending with patriotism. This is wrong in many ways, not the least of which is to suggest that big spenders are the most patriotic. It is presidential counsel based on the foundational culture world view, i.e. story, that money is the heart of the matter.

Our consciousness is flooded by streams of media, much generated by Madison Avenue, that tells Sacred Money’s lie, that glamour is beauty and can be bought. Calling money Sacred means that it is a higher power to be served rather than a means to a higher end. This story says money is the measure of success, is worth dying for. In the thrall of this story, dominance supplants justice and an expanding economy is the path to personal and national soul satisfaction, i.e. winning.

The shortsightedness of the story is being exposed by two realities of our time. The first is the immoral distribution of resources for life among the people of the earth and within America. Think of the 1 percent. The second is the environmental degradation justified by the Sacred Money story tragically demonstrated in global warming..

Korten sees another story growing in our consciousness, a lifesaving story he labels “Sacred Life and Sacred Earth.” From the sound of this story’s title, you might think Korten is a theologian or a mystic. In some sense he may well be, but his training and career, including teaching at the Harvard Business School, are as an economist.

He understands the need for money in the economies of the earth. He is not an either/or polemicist. He advocates for first things first, life before money, money serving life and not the other way around. The subtitle of his book is “A Living Economy for A Living Earth.”

A new day inspired by a new foundational story is emerging around the world like flowers coming up in the cracking asphalt, “Sacred Life and Sacred Earth.” I see it everywhere and try to be a part of it. Either it prevails or we use up the earth and one another, sacrificed on an altar dedicated to Mammon.

You may remember Jesus telling his followers: “You cannot serve two masters… You cannot serve God and Mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) Mammon is the idol named Money.

If you use books to expand your world view and clarify your values, you will find “Change the Story, Change the Future” a worthwhile read.

Bill Gregory is an author and retired UCC minister. He can be contacted at:

wgregor1@maine.rr.com