Making Bad Decisions

One of my favorite Catholic Worker stories is the tale of the diamond ring.

"Tom Cornell tells the story of a donor coming into the New York house one morning and giving Dorothy a diamond ring. Dorothy thanked her for the donation and put it in her pocket without batting an eye. Later a certain demented lady came in, one of the more irritating regulars at the CW house, one of those people who make you wonder if you were cut out for life in a house of hospitality. I can't recall her ever saying "thank you" or looking like she was on the edge of saying it. She had a voice that could strip paint off the wall. Dorothy took the diamond ring out of her pocket and gave it to this lady. Someone on the staff said to Dorothy, "Wouldn't it have been better if we took the ring to the diamond exchange, sold it, and paid that woman's rent for a year?". Dorothy replied that the woman had her dignity and could do what she liked with the ring. She could sell it for rent money or take a trip to the Bahamas. Or she could enjoy wearing a diamond ring on her hand like the woman who gave it away. "Do you suppose," Dorothy asked, "that God created diamonds only for the rich?"

What a waste of resources.  Giving this poor women a diamond ring when the money could have gone for a more practical purpose.  That is the way we think, isn't it?  We are very earthly, considering each financial decision with a magnifying glass of economic scrutiny.  Wondering if our interest rates are passing the Dave Ramsey seal of approval.  Maybe we are hoping that God, when our judgment comes, will be so impressed with our credit rating that not only will we get into Heaven, we will win a free t-shirt too.

Catholic Worker is does not have a history of making safe, practical decisions.  Dorothy used her rent and electric bill money to print the first issue of The Catholic Worker.  She was late with both bills, so I sure hope God didn't pull her credit report to see if she was overdue.  CW is not practical.  Christianity is not practical.  I refuse to be practical. 

I will not enter Heaven as God's unprofitable servant.  I will not take the faith and joy and money He has given me and bury it in some bank account somewhere out of fear that it will be misused.  I will not be scared to live on the fringe of society.   I will not wait for permission to do the right thing. 

In 1939 heading into 1940, Dorothy wrote her new resolutions:

"To pay no attention to health of the body but only that of my soul. To plan each day upon arising.  And in the evening examination of conscience.  To waste no time.  More charity."

I adopt these resolutions as my own.