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Article: God's stewards: the earth's wealth is really the Lord's; the responsibility to use it for the benefit of all is clearly ours.(Wealth And Responsibility)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- March 11, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It might be useful at the outset to distinguish wealth from income.
Wealth, although it can be lost, suggests stability, while there is a fluidity associated with income. The income "stream" may flow deep and full, but it moves on through. Unless a significant portion of income is diverted away from current expenditure and saved (held in reserve), it will make no contribution to wealth. Moreover, one can be a recipient of passive income (interest and dividends) as well as an active generator of cold, hard, spendable cash. An "easy come, easy go" cash-in-hand personal situation can produce a "wealthy" lifestyle that comes to a sudden halt when the income stream ...