James Baquet

    Today’s expression, “You cannot serve God and mammon,” comes from the Christian Bible. “Mammon” here is understood to mean “money,” especially when it holds a god-like place in someone’s life. Sometimes, “money” is substituted for “mammon,” as in today’s dialogue.

    James sees his student, a girl named Ellen, looking at “help wanted” ads in the newspaper.

    James: Hi, Ellen. Job hunting?

    Ellen: Yeah. But I don’t really want a JOB job.

    James: Meaning?

    Ellen: You know, I want to serve humanity, not just make a fast buck and live high on the hog.

    James: Yeah?

    Ellen: Frankly, I think the whole world’s going to hell in a handbasket. Not enough people are willing to go the extra mile for their fellow-man.

    James: I’m with you. So?

    Ellen: So my dad has other ideas.

    James: Aha.

    Ellen: He says I’ll work for a non-profit over his dead body. He wants me to do better than just keep body and soul together.

    James: Well, you can’t bite the hand that feeds you, you know.

    Ellen: But why does it have to be so “either/or?” Why can’t I help others, and make a decent living as icing on the cake?

    James: So you challenge the ancient wisdom that “You can’t serve God and money?”

    Ellen: Sort of. I mean, I don’t know about “God,” but surely there are lots of models of “enlightened entrepreneurship” that are doing just that.

    James: I hear ya. Keep thinking that way, Ellie, and I’m sure something good will come of it — something that will satisfy you and your dad.

    Ellen: Geez, I hope so. Thanks.

    Notes on the dialogue:

    — A JOB job: “A mere job, the usual kind, with nothing special.” You can use this construction in many ways: “Tofu isn’t just FOOD food, it’s super-food.”

    — To make a fast buck: To make money quickly, without regard for the quality (or ethics) of one’s work.

    — To live high on the hog: To live in luxury.

    — To go to hell in a handbasket: To head toward disaster.

    — To go the extra mile: To go beyond what is required of one.

    — One’s fellow-man: It expresses the idea that we are all equal, and worthy of each other’s support.

    — Over one’s dead body: In no case, as long as one is alive.

    — To keep body and soul together: To remain barely alive.

    — To bite the hand that feeds one: To go against someone who is one’s sole support, like Ellen defying her father’s wishes.

    — “Either/or”: Holding that two opposites cannot exist at the same time. “Is light a particle or a wave?” “Modern physics says it’s not so ‘either/or’ anymore.”

    — Icing on the cake: An added benefit.

    — Enlightened entrepreneurship: The idea of making money while making the world a better place.