Real Wealth

Faithful Finances 101 by Gary Moore  ("From the Poverty of Fear and Greed      to the Riches of Spiritual Investing)

Rambam's Ladder by Julie Salamon ("A Meditation on Generosity and Why It Iss Necessary to Give")

Offerings of the Heart by Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit ("Money and Values in Faith Communities")

The Stewardship of Life by Kirk Nowery ("Making the Most of All that You Have and All that You Are")

I am a certified financial planner who has learned that making lots of money is not the "be all and end all" of an individual or family financial plan. Sure, significant growth in one's investment portfolio, 401(k) and IRA is very important. But there are "quality of life" issues that also strongly influence the success of one's financial planning.

One of the most successful investors in the world grew up a few miles from where I went to graduate school in Tennessee. His name is Sir John Templeton, author, philanthropist and founder of the world renowned Templeton funds.

Sir John Templeton is devoting his life now to spreading awareness that we are all spiritual beings. His life has embraced the idea that mind, body and spirit are one. In the nature of widespread materialism, Sir John has demonstrated over and over that the simple qualities of life are indeed the most important enduring.

With Sir John Templeton as its inspiration, WirelessLedger.com includes this "Real Wealth" section on our web site. We will offer to the wireless telecom investor some recommended resources.

These recommendations represent a broad spectrum of religious beliefs and philosophies. Hopefully, there will be something here for every reader looking for inspiration, motivation or simply an occasional alternative to being caught up in money or technology, the main focal points of WirelessLedger.com. Most of the books and other resources recommended here are available at Amazon.com, where, normally, there are independent reviews from readers along with additional information about the content, focus and style of a book or other resource.

For the summer and fall of 2003, I am recommending some favorite books and resources written in the late 1990's. The authors are Sir John Templeton, Financial advisor Ron Blue, Mennonite theologian Mark Vincent, Silicon Valley writer Carl Goldman and Catholic theologian and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen.

This book is filled with insights based on the major spiritualities of the world and philosophies from throughout the ages. The purpose of the book is to help people of all ages learn more about the universal truths of life that go well beyond modern times or particular cultures.

Here are a few examples of Templeton's laws, identified by the Scientific and Medical Network:

"'Your life becomes what you think' - Marcus Aureliius, 'Nothing can bring you peace but yourself' - Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'An attitude of gratitude creates blessings' - John M. Templeton, 'Failing to plan is planning to fail' - Ben Franklin, 'What appears impossible may be simply the untried' - Seyyed Hossein Nasr, 'As within, so without' - Hermetic Principle. Under his last entry we read 'to live successfully in the outer world we need to live successfully in the inner world'. Then the story is told of Mendelssohn's discovery and first performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. The composer was only 20 and the work was unknown. He needed two orchestras and choruses to perform it! However, word spread about the rehearsals so that, for the public performance, every seat was taken and the work has been a classic ever since: 'The beauty and power of the inner spirit poured forth into the outer world to entrench a visioned man into our hearts and lives'".

Some investors in wireless telecommunications might find it particularly interesting to head to the technology capital of the world, Silicon Valley, California, with author Carl Goldman.

In this future-oriented, engineering driven, non-traditional world, people talk with the author about their personal epiphanies, questions and struggles as they try to make a meaningful life in an environment that offers little time or support for soul-searching.

These stories are moving, funny, and thought-provoking from a place where "conventional wisdom" is an oxymoron and, as one interviewer view he puts it, "the coin of the realm is money first, then competition." Food for thought here as the reader searches for his or her own spiritual bearings.

The author, Gary Moore, adeptly summarizes 17 investment principles that guided Sir John's business career. Each one is matched with a spiritual principle that the author sees as reflecting Templeton's investment nsights.

Among the seventeen principles, several are identified by Mutual Funds Magazine. "(Some are obvious): diversify; invest - don't trade or speculate; don't panic; and monitor your investments. Others go beyond primary-grade education and reflect more of Templeton's guiding philosophy; buy at the point of maximum pessimism; buy value, not market trends or economic outlook; recognize the difficulty of outperforming the market; and an investor who has all the answers does not even understand the questions."

This book offers an holistic approach to investments and life while laying out principles for creating spiritual and material wealth.

Financial adviser Ron Blue explains why an open handed spirit is the key to freedom, contentment and true joy.

Blue shows how we have numerous opportunities to give of our time, talents and treasure and that having a strategy for giving makes our generosity all the more effective.

Using very practical tools, Blue challenges readers to set a cap on reasonable lifestyle expenditures and use excess income to save, invest or give away.

The author notes that financial freedom is not necessarily the result of a high net worth, but rather is "the willingness to be generous with what you have." That's excellent advice, of course, for those of us who focus way too much of our time and attention on making money.

Money is the second most recurring theme in the Bible. "Money has god-like power," the author writes. "I think a lot ... What would I do with it if I suddenly came into a large amount? Money consumes my waking moments and shows up in my dreams."

Because all money's god-like power, Mennonite churches in North America developed an initiative, "The Giving Project: Growing Faithful Stewards in the Church." The purpose is to discover a set of Christian beliefs and practices in regard to money and develop methods for teaching in the church and other groups.

This book might be considered a gift from the Mennonites to God-believing people of every persuasion. The Mennonites are striving toward a fresh understanding of the relationship of faith and money and offer this thought-provoking book as a strategy for communicating their understandings.

In this short, clear book, Henri Nouwen writes passionately about how to begin finding the peace of mind to hear the voice of God.

Nowen writes: "The beginning of the spiritual life is often difficult not only because the powers which cause us to worry are so strong but also because the presence of God's Spirit seems barely noticeable. If, however, we are willing to live a life of prayer and practice the disciplines of solitude and community, a new hunger will make itself known. This new hunger is the first sign of God's presence. When we remain attentive to this divine presence, we will be led always deeper into the kingdom. There, to our joyful surprise, we will discovered that the power of our worry is a waning and all things are being made new."

Nouwen acknowledges the many pressures in our culture and our feelings of anxiety. He offers a profound about simple approach to understanding what a "spiritual life" is and helps the reader find the motivation to develop one's own spiritual relationships.