Re-igniting the Spirit

What Reflects our Real Moral Values?
One of the comments made during the presidential primary debates last year has remained stuck in my memory to this day. It came from Joe Biden, who was recalling some "folksy wisdom" from his father. His father had a saying that went something like this: "Don't lecture me about the moral values you claim to have, just show me your budget so that I can see what your real moral values are". As I recall, Joe Biden was making this comment in reference to our national budget, but I shuddered when I think that this commentary applies equally well to my own personal budget. If our moral values were to be judged by looking at our personal budgets, how well would any of us fare?
The idea of a budget being a moral document has been around for several years. In 2005, Rabbi Michael Lerner along with many other religious leaders sent an open letter to congress referring to the Federal Budget as a Moral Document - a specific expression of the values of a nation. I want to focus here on how well our personal budgets express our own values though, or those of our families. In my case you would probably conclude from an examination of my budget that my top priorities were providing a comfortable middle class life for my family and a good college education for my children. While not exactly shameful, that certainly doesn't come close to reflecting the full scope of my real values. Or in fact does it accurately reflect my real values? That's the question I can't get out of my head.
I've also been thinking lately about a closely related idea that Jim Wallis recently wrote about. He pointed out that our calendar is also a moral document - an expression of our values and priorities based on how we spend our time. That gives me something else to think about and work on.
Cross post from Mike Ignatowski over at TD.