Love, finance, and war without bullets

The holy books tell us

to love one another

to keep our eyes "on things above"

and to put others' needs above our own.

The business books don't say such things.

They say that business is "war without bullets"

and love makes a good slogan for Subaru

but is too flimsy, soft and blurry

to win the war

for talent

for technology

for capital.

The holy books warn of the evils of wealth.

The business books sing of the glories of riches.

Business can be love taking form,

making tangible the presence

of the Almighty.

But it will come at a price.

We will have to hold back

the feral desire that pulls at our passions,

turns the wheel of our skills to worldly ends.

We will have to withstand

the derision of today's bestsellers

and the reasoned rhetoric of

the icons of our age.

Business often cuts at the branch

on which it stands,

and calls it progress.

A sharper saw won't help.

New tools and technologies will just be new wine

in an old wine skin,

not water to wine but

income to profit,

cashflow to IPO.

What might the Friend do,

if we let Him into the board room?

"If the Lord does not build the house,

the builders labor in vain."