Taking stock of life!

The mind gloats on the news of a booming Sensex and Nifty. The media serves us everyday with thrilling reports of how much investors gained or lost in the stock market. I have never understood how the stock market really works so I do not pay much attention to it. Nor does it seems to matter to media that only about two per cent of India's Population actually indulge in stock market. Hearing the news of bullish and bearish markets sometimes to the point of boredom, my attention the other day was drawn to a simple parable that Jesus once recounted to his listeners(Luke 12:16-21);"The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?" So he said, 'I will do this:I will pull down my barns and buld greater; and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be marry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This night of your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, is not rich toward God." One often hears people say , "What are we going to take with us when we die? Everything will be left here". But rarely do those words make a deep impact on our life and behaviour. Mark in his gospel quotes Jesus: "Children, how hard, it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kindom of God (Mark 10:24-25)". And that is why Mahtama Gandhi once said, "There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for every one's greed".

Article Keywords: Stock, life, learning, investment,