Envy N Greed

Envy

Centuries ago in the country of Greece there was a young athlete who had so distinguished himself in the public games that his fellow citizens raised a statue in his honor, to keep fresh the memory of his victories. This statue so excited the envy of another athlete who had been defeated in the races, that one night he went out under cover of darkness with the intention of destroying that statue and knocking it to pieces. First he tried and tried to tip over the statue. He tugged and pulled and shoved... and after an hour it moved just a little bit. This encouraged him and he gave one mighty push and the statue fell -- on top of him, and killed him. Envy always harms the one who is guilty of it.

Did it ever occur to you that when you envy somebody or you are jealous of somebody, that this does not hurt that person in any way... He or she does not feel it at all... It only hurts you: it eats your insides out... So, you see, that it is a useless, self-destructive exercise. As Ben Sirach says in the Old Testament "Envy and anger shorten one's life."

Greed

A rich landowner offered to give the newly arrived neighbor all the land he could walk around in one day. The condition was that he would have to be back at the spot from which he started by sundown. Early the next morning the neighbor set out, without eating any breakfast or greeting anyone. His plan was to cover six square miles. When he finished the first six, he decided to make it nine, then twelve, and finally fifteen. That meant he would have to walk sixty miles before sundown. By noon he had covered thirty miles. He did not stop for food or drink. His legs grew heavier and heavier. About two hundred yards from the finish line, he saw the sun going toward the horizon. He had only a few minutes left. He gathered all his energies for that one last effort. He staggered across the line just in time. Then he reached for his heart and fell down in a heap - dead. All the land he got was a piece six feet by two for his grave. He died of greed.

In Luke Jesus says to the crowd: "Avoid greed in all forms."