Free First Date - Rachel Deals with the Money Fast

I thought I felt awkward when my friends started offering to pay for the small, unnecessary luxuries we normally shared. “Rachel, really, I’ll buy you a yogurt.” I explained, laughing, or daydreaming about the mango and brownie crumble topping, that it wasn’t really about ME not spending money, it was about not taking things I don’t need. It was about considering how I use resources and meditating on social justice. I reassured her; “I don’t think I’m fat,” and she decided it was okay to let me continue on my money fast, frozen yogurt covered in mango and chocolate brownie-less.

I hadn’t really met awkward until a week later. A first date. Eek! I said yes. How exciting. A great distraction from child abuse and cognitive behavioral therapy, topics permeating my masters in social work program. Then, it hit me. No I cannot go out to dinner with you, or see a movie, or play pool. Those all require spending money for things I do not need.

I paced campus with dear friends on our class break. How do I say this and not sound weird? How do I explain that I’m a progressive, social justice oriented Christian-before a first date? Lent can be so dark. Suggestions came. “Give it up for one night.” But the one that stuck was, “Rachel, you don’t want to be with someone who wouldn’t think that was cool anyway.” Right. Okay. So…I wrote an email. It said something like “yes, I want to hang out. I’m doing this social justice, analyze consumerism thing. So I’m not spending any money I don’t need to. Want to not spend money with me?” I’ll tell him about the Christian thing tomorrow.

Huge sigh of relief when he wrote back and told me his dad talks about the invisible backpack we carry around full of stuff. Yes, he will hang out with me. We’ll play Frisbee.

Fast-forward - it’s Wednesday, first date day. And it’s pouring rain and cold. Frisbee is vetoed. Let’s go see the amazing art museum on campus! It was closed, but there was a touch screen art computer in the atrium we played with. That took 5 minutes and it was still raining. We ended up in the student union. We voted in a photography contest, attempted a crossword puzzle, and happened upon a slam poetry contest. 19-year-old prophets rhymed about domestic violence, racism, and misogyny. Watching that is better screening of a date than any happy hour special I’ve seen.

I won’t first-date-and-tell. What I can say is that I started the week wishing I could just spend money on dinner out, to be less uncomfortable. It is easy to invite dear friends over and connect with out spending a dime. But we use consumerism to facilitate new connections, to ease our minds, to distract us from requests for real intimacy. I ended the week grateful to not have money for anything more than essentials. I didn’t eat yogurt to ease my nerves. I didn’t sit silently in a movie on a first date, wishing I were learning more about the cute guy who I came in with. This money fast, instead of making me count the days until it’s over, has made me closer to genuine connection, self-soothing, and amazing homemade lunches. Thank you Jesus!

Thanks to Rachel Cloud for this guest post.

Fasting, and then Slowing

My friend Graham asked me if I had ever shopped at a thrift store. I responded: "Sure! I go to Loehmans." That made him laugh--evidently Loehmans is not a thrift store. Oh well. This was the first of many lessons in my adventure of learning to live on about 1/5 of what I had made the year before. A combination of divorce, economy and one of those mortgages you read about had created a perfect storm, of sorts, for me financially.


Now, without house, car, almost all of my furniture and art, and thankfully about 50 pounds lighter, my life has changed considerably, and for the better. I look at things differently. I am thankful more often. I now understand what people meant when they encouraged me to "look at life's little moments and beauties." Before, I had no idea what that meant--I was too absorbed in the next business deal and what that could buy for me. Now, I am living life more slowly, enjoying good conversations, a slow and delicious cup of tea, and books from the library.



People ask me how I survived all of this. I have to admit, I cried a lot. It wasn't about money though. It was about the loss of what I call my "before friends." Now, I define what friends are much more carefully.



When I wasn't crying, I was laughing. The conundrum of how to interview (yep, unemployed too!) when I have nothing that fits my new size and my new budget was stressful, yet hilarious all at the same time. We have laughed until we have cried at pot lucks and game nights here at home. My girlfriends and I shriek with laughter as we compare notes of real thrift store finds. It is all an adventure, and a welcome one.



Cath's top 5 tips for financial fasting and surviving on a dime:



1. Use cash. There's nothing like handing over one $20 bill after the next to convince you to stop doing that.

2. Go to the library. It is one of our most underutilized tax benefits.

3. Sell things on Craig's list. I survived for almost a year from what I made from selling my...stuff. It is just stuff! How much do you really need?

4. Avoid restaurants, even with your cash. Eating at home is often healthier and you can even lose weight! For me, after my mortgage, this was my number one expense.

5. Make a game out of paying off your debt. For me, the moment I changed my attitude about my debt is the moment it began reducing in size.


Thanks to Cath Shaw for this guest blog.

Guest blog by Alicia -- Sharing our Faith

Several years ago I was worshiping at a church in Chevy Chase DC and also volunteering with an organization that provides furniture to DC area families. I enjoyed my work with both groups, but viewed them as separate, mostly because I wasn’t comfortable mixing my religious life with my service activities.

One day I talked to Jonathan, the director of the non-profit, about my church hosting an event for some of the families they serve. I was thinking of something off-site, with no religious content. Jonathan said that the families would probably prefer an event at the church. Apparently, many of the families have a strong religious faith, but can’t make it to services on a regular basis due to transportation issues.

We decided to hold a brunch after service one Sunday. Church members picked up the families from their homes and brought them to service. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed brunch in the fellowship hall.

During brunch, a 14 year old boy named Max introduced himself to Jonathan. He thanked Jonathan for providing beds and other furniture to his family; he asked if there was some way to he could help the organization. He started volunteering the next weekend. Throughout high school, Max volunteered every day after school and every Saturday. Whenever we said goodbye he told me to “Be Safe.” For some reason that has always stuck in my mind. He became part of the non-profit’s family – becoming friends with the college interns and receiving tutoring and mentoring from the extended network of volunteers. I have no doubt that these friendships have changed the course of his life.

I have had a very blessed life, always having a bed to call my own and never having to worry about losing the roof over my head. I’ve also always had a church community and before this brunch I never realized that this was a blessing that many are not able to have. I still am shy about sharing my faith with others, never wanting to appear to be pushing my religious beliefs, but Dean’s sermon reminded me that an invitation can lead to amazing, unexpected things.

Sometimes money fasting is just inconvenient

I had lunch meetings scheduled twice this week. So I invited people to my office for lunch. Monday I made a variety of sandwiches and a salad in the morning and carried them with me to work. Four of us sat around my coffeetable and had sandwiches and little salads for lunch.

Yesterday I wanted to "run" to church for some morning exercise (note that "run" is in quotes). I couldn't carry lunch with me conveniently. So I stopped at a grocery store near the church and bought makings for hoagies and a bag of potato chips. I hurriedly made sandwiches between a conference call and my lunch meeting. The person I was meeting with probably would have preferred a restaurant but he accommodated me. I am not sure that buying the ingredients and making the sandwiches myself was, in this case, much cheaper.

After the money fast is over, this is a practice I will not continue. It is too hard and not as friendly as having conversation over lunch at Bua's or the Commissary or even the lunch room at Whole Foods.

Yet, inconvenient as it has been, even this has been a good practice. In spite of not wanting to prepare lunches for meetings, I will carry my lunch rather than grab a sandwich somewhere more often. And I will remember how privileged I am to be able to have a relaxed conversational lunch with others at restaurants pretty much whenever I prefer to.

(Tomorrow ... a guest blog from Alicia.)

So I guess I cheated

People we love, who had been out of town for a few months, arranged with us long ago to spend an evening together this past week. We invited them over to our house for dinner. They said, No, no, we want to take you out to dinner. Jane asked me what she should say to them.

As part of the money fast, we have not been eating out no matter who is paying the bill. Otherwise folk who know we are doing a money fast would just pay for things for us and we would not experience the full experience of the fast. This is my reasoning, anyway.

But these friends really wanted to do this. I don't think they even knew about the money fast. I was afraid that they would feel the need to cook if we turned down their invitation to go to a restaurant and I didn't want to put that on them. I also did not want to be ungracious.

So I told Jane to tell them we would be delighted to be their guests for dinner. They asked us to pick the restaurant so we chose one that is very reasonably priced but a great place to talk. We enjoyed our meals, had a long conversation, and it was a good evening.

Sometimes friendship trumps discipline.

Standing in line at Panera, wallet in hand: Guest blog by Erin Ruberry

I'm standing in line at Panera with my wallet in-hand and coffee on the brain. 'It's a couple of dollars I'll never miss for a caffeine boost I really need,' I thought to myself. 'What's one cup of coffee?'

The 21-day financial fast was in its first weekend and I was already close to cracking. As I crept closer to the cash register, though, a small voice in the back of my head said, 'Don't do it. Turn around. Be strong.' The nagging voice prevailed. I got out of line and sat down at a table with my pre-packed sandwich to wait for my friends to order. Coffee could wait.

Doing without the ritual of friendly coffee date or the ease of socializing at a bar or restaurant has been the most difficult part of the financial fast. As a fairly frugal person, I'm used to packing lunch and making more meals at home than I eat out. But when it's grey, rainy and cold, all I want is a grande nonfat soy latte from Starbucks, not a mug of black coffee with a splash of almond milk at home.

Why am I doing the financial fast with Foundry? It's not to save money. For me, it’s about being conscious about where my money is going. Shelling out ‘a few bucks’ for a cup of coffee or a cute pair of Target flats isn’t going to break the bank. But for the nearly 1 billion people worldwide who live on less than $1 a day, ‘a few bucks’ has a different meaning.

I’m lucky to live in a city where there are an abundance of things to do for free: museums, parks, festivals and special events. Not spending money for 3 weeks doesn’t mean sitting inside being bored. In fact, I’m hoping to discover new attractions that normally would have fallen off my radar. When my weekly small group met last week, we took our gathering to the steps of the American Art Museum. Instead of meeting friends for post-church brunch, we've been hosting brunches at home and trying new recipes. Rather than hanging out at malls, we're getting together for hikes along the C&O canal.

To stay in the right spirit, I’m donating the money I would normally have spent on eating out (based on my Mint.com monthly budget) to the Capital Area Food Bank, ‘the largest, public nonprofit hunger and nutrition education resource in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area.

I’m hoping that this 21-day exercise makes me think twice before handing over my credit card at Target, Caribou Coffee, the cafeteria at work or any of my other usual haunts. And if it also makes me accustomed to brewing coffee at home and cooking brunch rather than going out, so much the better.

(Erin has been attending Foundry since she was a baby. She officially became a member last year. we are grateful for her reflection!)

Guest blog by Alicia

I met a woman at Foundry a few months ago. I will call her Diane. In some ways we were similar and there was an ease to our interaction, but there was one big difference – I have a home and she does not. As we left the church, I invited her to my nearby apartment to continue our conversation.

We spent several hours talking about all sorts of things – work, religion, family. I made some tea and she brought out a banana that we shared. I had some clothes set aside for donation; she looked through them and found a couple of warm sweaters. But, mostly we just talked, like teenage girls who became fast friends.

As she left, she thanked me for my hospitality and said she most appreciated the opportunity to just relax and “feel normal.” For her it was a taste of an earlier, easier time and a welcome break from her days and nights on the street. As she left she asked if I had a prayer request that she could keep in mind.

I haven’t seen Diane since that day. I think of her as an angel who came into my life to teach me lessons that I continue to learn. I thought about Diane during Dean’s recent sermon about what we would give if we had no money. Simple fellowship is sometimes the greatest gift we can provide. And it’s something we can all give without spending a cent.

(Wow. Thanks, Alicia.)

The money fast and our waists

Several Foundry folk have told me they have lost weight while on the money fast.

In one case, the person who told me he had lost weight thought it was because he was walking instead of taking cabs. In another case, somebody thought it was because of not eating in restaurants. Another person said it was because he had decided not to buy beer while he was on the money fast.

It made me remember something I heard from a denominational leader 25 years ago or more. This particular leader, noticing the waistlines of some of us clergy, started a campaign to get us exercising. One of the unintended but positive consequences of the program, he said, was the number of clergy who told him that --when they started exercising-- they also began praying in a regular and more disciplined way again.

He said clergy (who often go into ministry because they really, really want to pray) would come up to him with tears in their eyes and say, "I want to thank you. Since I've started exercising, I've also started praying again." It was very touching, he said.

His conclusion was that, when we practice discipline in any one area of our lives, it tends to increase the odds that we will become more disciplined in other areas of our lives as well. Physical disciplines stimulate spiritual disciplines, and vice versa.

So there may be a larger dynamic at work with those of us losing weight during the money fast. It may be that when we discipline ourselves to set limits on one kind of appetite, it may actually become easier to set limits on other appetites.

Guest blog from Nancy Groth

The money fast has caused me to focus on the money aspect of a perpetual New Year’s resolution: to waste less food. For the money fast, I have committed to packing my lunch for work instead of eating out; eating takeout or in restaurants also puts a lot of food to waste because my portion size is so much smaller than the norm, and I’m not very systematic about the leftovers.

By “packing” my lunch, like most any other verb of physical activity, I mean using my outsourced production capabilities. I order to contract for the limited physical assistance I need to be disassembled and transferred to bed at night, I have had to commit to an aide’s three-hour shift every evening from 8-11. What this means in practical terms is that three hours out of every twenty-four, I have hands [my grown kids are fond of claiming to be ahead of me evolutionarily because they have opposable thumbs but I do not] and reaching arms for housekeeping, laundry, cooking by loading a crock pot for the next day’s cooking, or now packing a week’s worth of lunches. So the challenge of “packing” my lunches is not a physical task for me, but a matter of ingenuity and organization and planning, areas where I excel. I can do this.

I decided to make a batch of sesame noodles, which with some fruit and my newest favorite food, Greek yogurt, would make packable lunches. I already had sesame oil, whole-wheat linguini, soy sauce and peanut butter in the cupboard, so I went to Whole Foods to get a small piece of ginger and a modest assortment of shredded veggies from the salad bar, cheaper than buying a whole one of each of the veggies for one person’s batch of noodles. While there I also bought an $8 can of tahini, which I decided was a “staple” even though I only needed a couple tablespoons for the sesame noodles; my college-age kid will be home for the summer and loves tahini, so surely it will get eaten. So far, so good.

That evening the weekend aide boiled some linguini and mixed stuff under my direction. Trying to open the can of tahini, her efforts with the electric can opener produced an awful grinding noise. I realized that the last attempt at using the electric can opener was by the weeknight aide, a lovely man from Nigeria who apparently has never cooked anything before working with me, and is unfamiliar with American appliances, even implements I thought were pretty universal and low-tech, like the vegetable peeler. I can’t tell if the electric can opener is broken from the previous attempt, or if the weekend aide, who is from Cameroon but is also a mother who cooks, has it lined up with the can top or not. I can’t tell because it is her hands and eyes on the electric can opener, not mine. Note to self: go to Bed, Bath & Beyond, and get an OXO hand-crank can opener that will be aide-proof.

In the few seconds it takes me to ponder this, the aide opens the silverware drawer, grabs a kitchen knife, and happily and efficiently stabs the top of the steel can of tahini, proceeding to saw all the way around the top with the kitchen knife. Yikes! I only have mediocre kitchen knives which are difficult to sharpen and don’t hold an edge worth anything, and I’m pretty sure that sawing through the top of a steel can has hastened or precipitated this knife’s demise.

Tally so far for one batch of sesame noodles: an $8 can of tahini, one electric can opener, one hand-crank can opener, and one kitchen knife.

What I notice in all this, for the zillionth time, is how little control I have over producing my intentions, and how quickly I jump to technology, i.e.money, to troubleshoot, like the hand-crank can opener. The overwhelming majority of people with disabilities do not have dedicated aides or my resources to troubleshoot with.

OK, so actually the can openers and knife were casualties of my cost of doing business, not the sesame noodles. This week’s lunch menu: sandwiches, alternate days of roast-beef-with-provolone and peanut-butter-with-nutella. And fruit and Greek yogurt.

(Nancy is a wheelchair user. Thanks to her for her delightful and thoughtful sharing!)

Anybody notice lately how much gasoline costs?

I needed gasoline the other day. Gasoline for travel for work or for family visits is on my list of necessary and allowable expenditures during my 21-day money fast. I'd had a meeting out of town that day and had another meeting out of town scheduled for the next day and did not have enough gas left in the tank to make it to my meeting the next day. So I needed gas.

Since I am not using credit or debit cards, I needed to use cash to pay for the gas. It has been years and years since I have paid for gasoline with cash. I can't remeber the last time I used cash to buy gasoline.

I looked at how much cash I had in my wallet. I am trying to be a little careful not to run out of cash since I am carrying no plastic in my wallet and don't want to be out of money altogether, just in case. Without using my debit card, I can get cash only when my bank is open.

Heck, I thought, I guess I have enough cash so I'll just go ahead and get $25 worth while I'm here.

Twenty-five dollars bought me 6.65 gallons of gasoline! My gas meter registered just a hair over half full. What??!! When did gasoline get this expensive??!!

I sat in my car trying to figure out whether there was some way I could get to my meeting the next day by public transportation? Was there someone else going to the meeting I could share a ride with?

I confess that I have the capacity to be a little oblivious when it comes to the practicalities of life. When I am filling up the tank of my car with gasoline, my mind is likely to be thinking about the theological implications of the discovery that the universe is expanding faster than scientists had previously thought or what it means that the country seems to be going through an unusually wacky season. I guess I usually hardly even notice how much I am paying for a tank of gasoline.

The most interesting thing to me is that, when I used cash to buy gas, I had a new appreciation of how much gasoline actually costs. And my mind immediately went to alternative possibilities for transportation ... which is a good thing for other reasons as well.

I guess the money fast was working.

I'm becoming a squirrel!

This is embarrassing.

I was at a meeting Tuesday. Refreshments were on a table outside the room where the meeting was being held. I took a bottle of water with me into the meeting. I stayed for a conversation with someone after the meeting and was the last one to leave. The refreshments were still there. I stuffed two cereal bars, a banana, and two bottles of water into my rain coat pockets.

I am on a money fast and it had suddenly occurred to me that if I wanted something to eat or drink while I was driving back to the city (only a 45-minute drive), the money fast would prevent me from stopping to buy something. So I squirreled up on free refreshments.

The next day I was at another meeting. I left this meeting early. They had just put new refreshments on the table and I stuffed some peanut butter crackers and a bottle of water into my pocket and almost took even more refreshments with me.

I assume nobody would get too upset because I swiped some refreshments, even though I assume the purpose of refreshments is to keep us alert at the meeting, not to take home with us.

What embarrasses me is the neediness within me that worries at a very primitive level that I will not be able to satisfy a need or desire when I want to. It is a neediness that reacts by stuffing my pockets with free stuff. In all honesty, I actually looked around to see if anybody was watching me before I stuffed my pockets. Really. At my age.

I've occasionally seen this kind of stuffing-your-pockets behavior among very poor people and always had a sort of smug liberal superior amusement about it. Now I've learned that the same spirit is in me.

A blog from Alicia

In the spirit of the money fast, I recently decided to purchase a reusable mug. It's something I'd thought about forever and I was finally getting one. I found a stainless steel one that I liked. I asked an employee for her opinion and she suggested a larger one to leave room for milk, etc . . . I thought about it, with the idea of unnecessary consumption in mind, and opted for the smaller 12 ounce option. I had deep thoughts about how here in the U.S. we are always think bigger is better, always planning and hoping for more.

Yes, I was feeling a bit self-satisfied as I walked out of the store.

Then another reusable mug caught my eye. This one was clear with colorful graphics. It was so cute! I immediately thought about how I could get it someday to use for coffee. Of course I could have both, even though one is perfectly satisfactory if washed between uses.

I was soon humbled as I realized the many money traps I constantly fall into.

(Our thanks to Alicia Gutierrez for this blog!)

Day Three of the Money Fast

Today is my third day actually doing the money fast. I have neither cheated nor run into serious problems so far. I have had to think ahead much more than usual.

For instance, bottled water. I have to remember to bring it with me rather than just buying a bottle whenever I want some.

Lunch. I have to remember to pack it in the morning.

Tea. I have to remember to carry tea bags and humble myself enough to beg hot water.

The hardest thing is giving up window shopping. Egad, I window shop a lot on my computer, more than I would have ever imagined. When I open my email in the morning, there are newsletters from Runner's World, Men's Health, MLB, The Sports Authority, Amazon, and even Christianity Today that are just glorified ads. They inspire within me a desire to spend, spend, spend.

I figure I've saved a bit of money already. On Sundays I usually buy two cups of tea at Starbucks and have lunch out with Jane -- $26.00. Mondays I often stop at a local health cafe and have a salad and bowl of lentil soup and then tea at Starbucks -- $14.00. Monday I refrained from downloading a book I almost bought for my Kindle but didn't really need -- $9.99. Today I had a meeting outside the city and would have grabbed a sandwich at a convenience store for lunch, plus another visit to Starbucks -- $13.00.

At minimum, this would have been $62.99 in just three days.

My friend Don Lowe has bugged me mercilessly that we ought to give away the money we save during the money fast. I kept saying, "No, Don. This is a spiritual exercise. I don't want people to think this is a gimmick to raise funds."

Don would not let up. Finally, last week the Holy Spirit said to me: Don is right, you know. So I am giving the money I save during the money fast to our Volunteers in Mission's project in Haiti. It is beginning to add up.

Guest blogger Alicia Gutierrez returns

In a recent sermon, Dean discussed how we use purchases in an attempt to feel some power in a world that often feels beyond our control. This encouraged me to reflect on a recent experience.

I have become friends with a Street Sense vendor who works outside CVS on P Street. I frequently buy a paper and he’s always happy to look after my dog if I run in to get something. I’ll also sometimes buy him a snack. One day he asked for cranberry juice. I went in, saw that the cranberry juice was sold out, and bought another flavor. I thought he would be happy, but I was wrong. When I came out he got angry and was quite rude. He ended up exchanging the juice for another flavor.

I must admit that I was quite annoyed. After a while, I was able to summon compassion and reason that he obviously had some feelings that I could not understand and I forgot about it. Dean’s sermon gave me a completely different understanding of this situation. I take for granted the ability to go into a store and buy myself a treat for a couple of dollars without much thought. My friend does not have this luxury. He wanted cranberry juice and was hoping to at least be able to control the flavor of his juice.

It made me wonder, what would it be like to not have a spare dollar or two to buy myself a treat when my day was full of difficulties beyond my control? What if I couldn’t rely on this coping mechanism that many of us use all the time?

(Our thanks to Alicia. Your thoughts are welcome, too. Email them to dsnyder at foundryumc.org).

Wallis on fasting

My money fast begins this coming Sunday and lasts 21 days until Easter. This was not such a good week of preparation for me, maybe because I thought of all the things I would be trying to refrain from buying beginning next week and impulsively bought some of them. Ughh.

Jim Wallis of Sojourners is doing a food fast this Lent in sympathy with the vulnerable who would be negatively affected by proposed U.S. budget cuts. Read about it here.

In Sojourner's weekly electronic SoJo Mail, he includes a number of quotes about fasting from Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth.

Here are some amended quotes he mentions (I have changed the word "food" to "spending" and made some other changes in order to apply the quotes to our money fast):

"Fasting must forever center on God. … If our fasting is not unto God we have failed" (54, 55).

"More than any other Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us" (55).

"We cover up whatever is inside us with spending and other good things, but in fasting these things surface" (55).

"Fasting reminds us that we are sustained 'by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God' (Matt. 4.4). Spending does not sustain us, God sustains us" (55).

"Fasting helps us keep our balance in life. How easily we begin to allow nonessentials to take precedence in our lives. How quickly we crave things we do not need until we are enslaved by them" (56).

"This is not excessive asceticism; it is discipline and discipline brings freedom" (56).

"In many ways the stomach [our appetites] is like a spoiled child, and a spoiled child does not need indulgence, but needs discipline. … You are to be the master of your stomach [appetites], not its slave" (57).

You can sign up for Sojourner's SoJo Mail here.

Tomorrow, another guest blog from Alicia! Watch for it.

WWJD?

Jesus is hard to figure out. You think you can nail him down on some topic or another, then you read something else in the Gospels and end up confused again. You can't nail Jesus down (which, by the way, might be a good title for an Easter sermon ... or a grunge band).

Jesus talked a lot about money. Some say that Jesus talked about money more than any other topic, although I am not sure. Some of his parables about money aren't really about money; he just uses money as an illustration to make a larger point. I've read several books by die-hard capitalists who try to use Jesus' parables (such as the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and Luke 19) as proof that Jesus was a capitalist. I think they miss the analogy Jesus is making. Jesus isn't actually talking about money every time he uses money as an illustration.

If the Gospel of John is right, Jesus and the disciples had a "common purse" or a treasury (John 12:6). Judas was the treasurer. So presumably Jesus and his disciples used money. Presumably people like Mary Magdalene, Joanna (the wife of Herod's steward Chuza), Susanna, and many others, donated the money for their common purse. (Luke 8:2-3)

The only place that I can think of in the Gospels where Jesus actually spends money, or orders it to be spent, is the strange story in Matthew 17:24-27. Here Jesus instructs Peter to catch a fish and tells him he will find a coin in the fish's mouth and that he should use that coin to pay the temple tax.

I can't figure out how to interpret this story. Either Jesus was doing a miracle in order to pay the temple tax or else he was being ironic, saying in effect: I am as likely to pay the temple tax as you are to find a coin in the mouth of a fish you randomly catch in the sea.

I don't know. I'd like to hear an edifying interpretation of this odd little story in Matthew.

Another time Jesus makes a pointed observation about money is when he is asked about paying taxes to the empire. The common coin in those days was the denarius, as someone reminded me this week. The denarius was actually minted by the emperor and had his image on it. It literally was made by him and belonged to him. He is the one who stood behind its value. So Jesus says to give back to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and to give to God what belongs to God ... which is our very selves since we are made in the image of God.

What would Jesus do about having and spending money? It is my sense that Jesus used money but was not at all attached to it. Jesus obviously enjoyed life. (You don't report miracles of making wine about someone who is an ascetic.) He enjoyed parties. He certainly frequently advocated giving money to the poor.

But it is hard to nail him down.

Guest blogger -- Alicia Gutierrez

I decided not to do the money fast, mostly because I dealt with similar issues recently when I decided to switch jobs and work part-time. But, hearing the sermons has allowed me to reflect on the changes I made when I found myself with less discretionary income.

The money fast discipline that resonated most with me is the idea of shopping as entertainment. This was something I used to do frequently; it was easy because I worked in Friendship Heights, a mecca for all kinds of shopping. During lunch breaks or after a particularly stressful day I would shop for shoes and clothes. Or sometimes it was books and cards. Half priced Christmas cards in January, I'll take them, even if they would likely be forgotten in a drawer come December.

Now I rarely shop for entertainment. My new hobby is simple and free - walking my dog. We have walked the streets of Logan Circle everyday for the last couple of years. I have come to appreciate the beautiful and not so beautiful aspects of the neighborhood I call home. Our long walks also encouraged me to pick up a dormant hobby, photography. Since I usually don't print my photographs, this is also free. In addition to being a creative outlet, it's something I contribute to Foundry and other organizations that I believe in.

Giving up shopping as entertainment has literally gotten me out into the world, embracing and appreciating everyday in a deeper and more meaningful way.

(Thanks, Alicia! If you have thoughts to share, email me at dsnyder at foundryumc.org.)

Guest blogger -- Michael Talon

Growing up in a family where money came and money went tainted my view of the place that it should have in my life. We were what you would typically call “well off” yet constantly without money for simple things. Like most kids I grew up swearing that I would never have to deny myself anything; if I wanted something I was going to buy it. Needless to say things didn’t necessarily work out that way.

Heading into Foundry with my partner, I wasn’t aware that Lent was upon us or even that there were things the congregation were about to begin doing to honor the Lenten time. I was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and for me this new world of Christianity is eye-opening and sometimes conflicting in my soul. However, that morning when Rev. Snyder began to speak about the money fast, I was taken to a place where the feeling of the congregation took hold of me. This was something that intrigued me and sent me from that service looking for guidance and information on money, our views and most importantly how I could simplify my life.

I read a published report by Dr. Roger Henderson, a researcher from the UK, called “Money Sickness Syndrome”. It was sent to me by a good friend of mine who knew that I was looking at this Lent as a new spiritual experience. There were multiple points that he brought up as to how we can become sick with a syndrome that we are unable to diagnose or treat externally. This “sickness” is one that leads us all back to a place of unrest, failing hearts and minds and most importantly the ability to ignore the important things in life. This syndrome can even create an atmosphere where we turn a blind eye to the very issues that Christ was enabling Christians to help.

One of the points he recognizes is that it does not matter where on the income scale we live we are all susceptible to this syndrome. Do we feel the need to concentrate on our money and the keeping of it or making more? Are we unable to separate our happiness from the pursuit and use of money? Do we use the spending of money in small or large amounts as a crutch to get us through periods of others success or our own failures?

These questions are the ones that I personally took to heart. We must always as Christians test out our faith and rely on the spiritual bond we have with God during all trials. I believe that this time of Lent is one where I will need to feel out my faith and as Peter said, “cast my anxieties out upon him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) The question I wish to answer, and one that this published report helped me realize, is am I ready to trust God as I attempt to live my life free of the anxiety of money?

(Thanks so much, Michael.)

My Achilles Heel

I am very glad I did not just jump into the money fast. My plan is to prepare for the first half of Lent and then actually do the fast during the second half of Lent. I will begin Sunday April 3.

I've already cut out Starbucks and started brewing my own tea (which has actually also led to a cutback on my consumption of caffeine). I've also pretty much refrained from impulse purchases. I am not buying prepared food from the prepared food counters at Whole Foods but food staples (which seems to have coincidentally led to a cutback in calories consumed).

Lunches out, however, are my Achilles Heel.

I needed to have a relaxed conversation with someone yesterday. We met at a restaurant halfway between where we live and had a very important conversation.

Today I am meeting with someone from another city for lunch at a restaurant near his hotel. Where would we meet if we didn't go to a restaurant or coffee shop?

My plan was to prepare lunches in advance and invite people to my office, but twice this week the geography would not have worked. What do I do? Prepare bag lunches and invite people to eat them in my car? I don't think so. A park bench, depending on the weather, would be better but still odd.

Anybody have any ideas?

I hope to be posting a guest blog tomorrow. Please watch for it. I would love to have more guest bloggers. Just email me your blog and I'll be happy to post it.

Weightier matters

Every year I listen to the podcasts of the sermons from Memphis' Calvary Episcopal Church's midweek Lenten services. The speakers tend to be excellent. (I consider it the second best preaching series next to Foundry's Summer in the City July series.)

Walking home last evening I listened to the podcast of a sermon by Marcus Borg, the author of such books as "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time."

In his March 17th sermon on the temptations of Jesus (see http://www.calvarymemphis.org/news/lentenseries.htm), he talks about the United States having the highest percentage of people who self identify as Christian -- somewhere around 80 percent.

Then he gently talks about two ironies -- that the most Christian nation in the world depends so radically on military strength (as I recall, he says the US's military is equal to the next 17 countries' militaries combined) and that the most Christian nation in the world has the largest income inequality of any of the developed nations of the world. He says that, in comparison to other developed nations, our income inequality is off the charts. And, he says, the gap is growing.

How does this happen in the most Christian nation on earth? he asks.

So while I am paying attention to how often I buy tea at Starbucks or magazines at Busboys and Poets in preparation for my money fast April 3-24, Marcus Borg reminds me that I am called to be an agent of justice, not only to practice personal morality in the way I spend money.

It made me think of Jesus' pointed reprimand to the religious folk of his time from Matthew 23:23 -- "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others."

Personal responsibility in the way I spend the money that I am a steward of is no substitute for working on behalf of justice.

What are the rules?

Wow. Just anticipating the money fast has changed my spending habits in a dozen little ways. I am carrying water with me to the gym instead of buying it there. I am not eating out nearly as much. I am making tea in my teapot rather than buying it at Starbucks. I am not buying more gym clothes when I am getting no where with preparing a sermon. All these little changes are adding up to more money than I would have imagined.

I am now two weeks away from the fast which I will do April 3-23. I am going to try to follow most of the rules for a financial fast set out by Michelle Singletary in her book "The Power to Prosper." However, everybody should decide for themselves what their fast will be like.

On Sunday I said in one of the services that I would be trying to fast from prepared foods and TV dinners. Someone send me a message saying, "What? No TV dinners? You keep changing the rules!"

Please feel free to make your own rules. For me, buying food in its more elementary forms (rather than ready to eat) seems to be a reasonable part of the fast so that's what I am going to try to do. I mean, I am not going to bake my own bread or go catch my own tuna fish, but neither am I going to buy food ready to pop into the microwave and eat.

I also want to begin doing more thinking about money is larger systemic ways. Some of our Lenten groups are studying a set of papers called "Faith and Finance: Christians and the Economic Crisis" put out by Sojourners magazine. See http://store.sojo.net/product_p/dg_cri.htm. The resource includes papers by people like Walter Brueggeman, Ron Sider and Adam Hamilton.

In his essay Adam Hamilton quotes Jesus: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink ... But strive first for the Kingdom of God."

Maybe that ought to be rule number 1 for the money fast. Maybe it is the only rule we need.

Buying time

I've been assuming that one of the things money is good for is to buy time.

If you can afford to pay somebody to clean your house, you save the time it takes to clean house. If you can afford to own a car it saves the time it would require to take the bus or the train or even to walk. If you can afford to buy a dishwasher, it saves the time it would take you to wash the dishes by hand. Buying vegetables at the store saves the time of having to raise them ourselves.

The question is whether saving this time has made our lives richer. This is what I am going to ask us to think about during worship tomorrow.

I'm not sure I can do this

One of Michelle Singletary's suggestions for a money fast is that you fast from all window shopping, including internet window shopping. "Don't window shop," she writes. "A major objective of this fast is to stop using shopping as a form of entertainment."

Yesterday I was walking through a section of Dupont Circle I don't often happen upon. I noticed two restaurants I was not familiar with. I stopped to read their menus.

Then it suddenly occurred to me that reading menus in restaurant windows is a form of window shopping.

Stopping to browse the magazine rack at Books-A-Million is a form of window shopping. Even Googling yoga studios and fantasizing about getting more serious about yoga is a form of window shopping, I guess.

When I think about it, lots of my spending is a form of entertainment. Lots of my entertainment is thinking about things to spend money on.

The money fast is just for 21 days, between April 3 and 24 for me. I can do pretty much anything for 21 days. But fasting from spending or actively thinking about or dreaming about spending money is a bigger experiment than I had realized.

Freedom's just another word

During my walk to church this morning I was thinking about some of the college students I used to teach 25 or 30 years ago. The university was best known for its engineering school and many of the students who took my classes were engineering students. When we got into conversations about their futures, there were a group of students who'd tell me their plan was to work hard until they were 45, make lots of money, and then enjoy themselves the rest of their lives.

They were always male. I can never remember a female student having this particular dream for their life. The guys told me they were studying engineering but they did not particularly enjoy engineering classes or the kind of work engineers did. They were often from working class families in the near suburbs and the kind of salaries engineers earned in those days looked like a lot of money to them. They figured if they put in 25 years making that kind of money they'd have it made for the rest of their lives.

I had a standard response when students told me this. "What is it that you plan to do after you retire from engineering at 45?" I'd ask. Sometimes students knew, and then I'd ask them if they'd every thought about trying to make a living doing what they really enjoyed doing. Rather than working for 25 years at a job you don't like to make enough money to spend the rest of your life fishing, have you researched whether you could make a living as a charter fishing boat captain or in the state fish and wildlife department?

More often, the student didn't know what he wanted to do. He didn't really have a dream for what he'd do after he quit engineering. What he was looking for was financial security so he would have the freedom to do whatever he felt like doing the rest of his life.

I doubt those students' life plan worked out for many of them. Engineers' salaries turned out not to be as much money as they thought it would be in the middle-class world they were entering. Lots of them probably fell in love and became parents and discovered that retiring at 45 was a feeble dream compared to the joys and challenges of parenthood. Some probably discovered that, by the time they got into their mid-30s or 40s, the dream of financial security had faded and been replaced by a longing for significance and meaning.

I hope those students found happy lives one way or another. I just doubt that many of them found happiness via the path of becoming rich enough by 45 so they would not to have to work anymore.

Money is a weird thing. Part of the purpose of Michele Singletary's book and her money fast is to help us think about what security, happiness and freedom really are and how we find them. Part of her point, I think, is that there are two ways to prosper -- one is to increase our wealth and the other is to purify our desires.

The life plans of those students from years ago reminds me that it is probably not a good idea to have a goal of accumulating money unless we really know what we hope to buy with it. What if it turns out that what we wanted we could have had for free? What if it turns out what worked 25 years to buy can't be bought?

Planning ahea...

I don't care when my work day starts. It is okay if my first meeting is at 7:30 a.m. or at 10 a.m. I just want plenty of time in the morning to read the paper, check my email, putz around, find my keys, and do all the little things it takes to feel prepared for the day.

No matter when I need to leave the house, I am almost always rushing because I've filled up my morning time with all these kinds of things. So I do not usually take time to think about meals for the day. I usually figure I'll just grab some food when I need it.

Except now I am preparing for a money fast. April 3 to 21, along with some other Foundry folk, I will be trying to not spend money for anything that's not absolutely essential.

Yesterday morning I realized that I had a meeting in one section of the city that would be ending at about 12:15 and another meeting outside the city that would be beginning at 1:30. Normally I wouldn't think ahead but just stop somewhere, a supermarket with a salad bar maybe or a convenience store, and grab some food.

But, in anticipation of the fast, I decided I should prepare a bag lunch to eat between my meetings yesterday so I would not be unnecessarily spending money. I made a sandwich out of whole wheat bread and lunch meat and squirted some mustard on it. I found a sandwich bag. I found a left-over plastic container and put some broccoli slaw we had in the refrigerator in it along with some cherry tomatoes and a squirt of balsamic vinegar. I grabbed a bottle of spring water.

It took me maybe five minutes (less time than stopping at a convenience store), cost maybe $2.00, and was probably healthier than the food I would have bought otherwise.

Wierd. What I don't want to bother doing is taking the time and energy to plan ahead. I'd rather spend a few more minutes with the newspaper and just rush out the door and deal with food as I go through my day. What does this say about me?

And it is a reminder that most of the world does not have this luxury.

PS -- I have a volunteer to be a guest bogger! Thank you, Michael. If you'd like to be a guest blogger (so it is not all about me), just email me your blog and I'll post it. Or else, if you'd prefer to blog directly, let me know and I'll ask my techie friend Katie if she can figure out how to let you do that.

Oh, how I love Stabucks

Out of all the money I spend, the money I spend at Starbucks makes the least sense … and it is the spending that I most dread giving up when I do the money fast. On my way into my office at the church every morning, I love to stop at Starbucks and buy a cup of hot tea. It costs $2.70.

Sometimes in the afternoon, if I think I need a break, I take a walk and buy a second cup of tea for $2.70.

I've done this for years. My Starbucks gold card is dated 2003.

I drink my tea black. I pay $2.70 for tea bags and hot water.

When I first started buying tea at Starbucks, the baristas would motion me to come close and then they would whisper to me: "You know you can buy a box of tea bags and make your own tea. It would only cost you a few cents."

"You just boil some water and pour it over the teabag," they'd say.

This happened several times. Even the Starbucks' employees were trying to help me not spend so much money at Starbucks.

So I know this. The way I spend money is not purely rational. Sometimes it is not rational at all. So I suspect there is something I can learn about my heart and soul by paying attention to the way I spend money.

I expect that until I start the money fast April 3 I will continue to buy tea at Starbucks. Don't be surprised if you see me there. After the fast, I expect it will be the first place I will spend money Easter morning.

But in between April 3 and Easter, as I contemplate the ways I spend money, I hope that the money fast will teach me something about my relationship with God, my relationship with my own soul --maybe even something about my addictions and idolatries, my relationship with others, and especially my relationship with the poor.

(From my sermon today.)

Easy go ...

I was scheduled to have lunch with a fellow pastor the other day. We were lunching at a restaurant named Eatonsville, across the street from the U Street Busboys and Poets.

I got a phone call that my friend would be 1/2 hour late. I was already at the restaurant. I asked the waitress if they had a newspaper I could read while I waited. She said, no, but there is a bookstore across the street at Busboys and Poets.

I went to buy a newspaper and the store's magazine rack caught my attention. I love magazines. I noticed a magazine I used to subscribe to. Actually I wrote a short piece for them once. I decided to buy the current issue.

Then another magazine caught my eye. A Foundry member used to be a staff writer there. I hadn't read that magazine regularly for a couple of years now. I bought it too.

So I walked out of the book store with a newspaper and two magazines which cost me about $13.

I've enjoyed reading the magazines.

But, boy, it really is easy to spend money without hardly even noticing it. Were I not preparing to do a money fast I would not have given it a second thought.

A number of us at Foundry are preparing for a 21-day money fast between April 3 and 24. One group isn't waiting until April but has already begun their fast. Most of us are using the first half of Lent to be more aware of our spending habits and patterns and then will fast from spending money for anything but the most essential items for the second half of Lent.

It is a spiritual experiment, and we invite you to think about joining us. If you do, leave your thoughts and comments here. Or comment even if you don't.

A question about eating out

In the last two days I've had four meals in restaurants ... two breakfasts and two lunches. Why do I eat out so much? How did I come to eat out this much? Is this a good use of money?

I am preparing for a 21-day money fast between April 3 and 24. I am using the first half of Lent to be more aware of my spending habits and patterns and then I will fast from spending money for anything but the most essential items for the second half of Lent.

Here are the four times I've eaten in restaurants in the last two days.

Meal out number 1 -- Ash Wednesday we have a tradition of staff members who participate in the 8 a.m. service of going out for breakfast afterwards. I participated because I like hanging out with other staff members.

Meal out number 2 -- Ever since the beginning of the year I have been taking a different staff member out to lunch once a week, just to talk and to ask them what they think Foundry is doing well and what we might do better. I had one such lunch Wednesday afternoon. It was a great conversation.

Meal out number 3 -- Yesterday morning I had an early breakfast with a consultant who had counseled me during a time of transition a couple of years ago. He suggested breakfast because he wanted to keep in touch and talk to me about a new project he is working on. He is a good guy, and very smart, so it was great to spend time with him.

Meal out number 4 -- Weeks ago I had scheduled lunch with another pastor who is also working to end homelessness in DC. We have met several times and every time we meet we meet over lunch. I am not sure why. I do it because I think this is his preference but I've never really asked him. He may do it because it thinks it is my preference.

I have a beautiful office at the church. Why do I have so many meetings at restaurants and coffee shops, I wonder? Meals out are really quite expensive. I try to order healthy meals when I eat out, but the truth is that restaurant food is rarely as healthy as food Jane and I prepare for ourselves, so I am not sure eating out so much is very healthy either.

If I have lunch meetings scheduled during my money fast, I plan to invite folk to my office and to bring a pre-prepared lunch from home that I've prepared myself from basic ingredients I buy at the supermarket. I don't have any idea how to handle breakfast meetings.

Conversations over meals or coffee are more relaxed, I think. They are more relational and less task oriented. I assume this is a good thing, but it isn't cheap, especially if you go to any of the restaurants near Foundry.

Is it just me or do other people have lots of meetings over meals and in coffee shops? Does anybody have any ideas about why we do this? Is it a good use of money? I'd appreciate your thoughts.

OMG, I've forgotten how to get money.

OMG, I've forgotten how to get money. When I do my 21-day money fast, April 3 – 24, one of my commitments is to use no plastic – no credit or debit cards. I will be spending money for food staples, gasoline, and essential toiletries. This means I will need some cash.

I've forgotten how to get cash without going to an ATM or getting cash back at Whole Foods, both of which require using a debit card.

Michelle Singletary, whose book "The Power to Prosper" introduced me to the idea of a money fast, argues that we spend money with less awareness and consciousness when we use plastic. She cites research to support her contention.

I certainly will not give up my debit card permanently. It is too great a convenience. But I will give up using it for 21 days as part of this spiritual exercise.

As Singletary points out, counting out cash to pay for something is a different experience than putting it on a card. Counting out cash to buy a new TV with cash would be a very different experience than putting it on a card. She cites research that shows that people spend more money on meals in restaurants if they pay with a card.

So how do you get your hands on money if you don't use an ATM? I remember years ago standing in long lines at a bank on a Friday afternoon to deposit my pay check and get some cash. But that was a long time ago. And I don't get paychecks anymore. It is deposited directly into my account.

I asked some of my co-workers if they knew how to get cash without using a debit card. One person who uses a community bank says she just walks into her bank and they give her money. I doubt Bank of America would do that.

Someone else told me there should be withdrawal slips at the back of my checkbook. I think I remember the drawer we keep our checkbook in.
I am going to have to figure out how to get my hands on some cash without using an ATM.

Ash Wednesday

Today, Ash Wednesday, I am beginning my preparations for a 21-day money fast beginning April 3 and ending Easter morning April 24. Some Foundry folk are joining in the fast.

During the first three weeks of Lent I will be keeping a record of all the money I spend to become more aware of my spending. During the last three weeks I will be trying not to spend any money, other than for the basics of life -- food staples from the supermarket, gas for the car, offerings and charitable giving. Also, I will use no plastic – neither credit nor debit cards.

I will basically follow the rules laid out by Michelle Singletary in her book "The Power to Prosper." Her list of things we can purchase during the fast includes: essential foods, medicines, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies. That's pretty much it.

Then she adds: "Let the Holy Spirit speak to you on what is and what isn't allowed while you fast."

So I plan on keeping my appointment to get a haircut unless the Holy Spirit says otherwise.

Today already I have spent lots of money that I will not be spending during my money fast. I stopped at Starbucks on my way into work to buy a cup of tea. I went out with some of our staff for breakfast after our early Ash Wednesday service. I had lunch with a co-worker.

During the fast I will make my own tea. When I invite someone to lunch, I will prepare lunch for us that morning and invite my guest to have lunch with me at the church.

The purpose of this fast is to see how money affects my relationship with God and others. I am realizing already that money is a great convenience.