Rich Toward God

A tree I pass on my morning walk, with some clouds reaching toward God.
In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus warns us that greed can keep us from God.  He says, "Take care!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."  It is easy to see greed in others, both in real life and in movies.  It is hard to recognize greed in ourselves.  That's why we need to be cautious, on our guard.  What makes greed difficult to spot is that there are all kinds.  We can be greedy about many different things.  We may never be able to get enough money, property, possessions, travel.  We always want more because things are not completely satisfying.
I  think of an old song by Peggy Lee, "Is that all there is?  Is that all there is? If that's all there is, my friend, then let's keep dancing.  Let's live it up and have a ball?"  She recounts various unsatisfying experiences and then laments with that refrain.  It's a painful expression of how empty life can be if it has no God-dimension.
The very last words in Gospel selection are "rich toward God."  Some translations try to make it sound smoother in English, but many are faithful to the Greek which uses the awkward expression "toward God."  The expression helps me to think of moving toward God instead of moving toward things.  In our relationship with God we never have enough. That's the kind of riches Jesus wants us to strive for.