The Bible says that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

The Bible says a lot of things. At this point I don't know many rich men, especially after Bernie Madoff absconded with their big bucks, nor have I seen a camel in recent years. If you want to go through the Bible looking for doom, please don't forget that it warns about money lenders - didn't we just bail a bunch of them out - not to mention it being the root of all evil.

If you happen to be one of those recession proof people who still has money, that doesn't necessarily mean that it conflicts with spirituality. Quite the contrary, you now have money to invest in those who really need it. Charities in this country are perpetually begging for money to help the people who have fallen through the cracks. Whether it's Jerry's Kids or my own local favorite - Wheels for Humanity, if you have a spare dollar you can make a great deal of difference.

I will tell you a little about my favorite charity. One day a young man was doing some missionary service in South America and he passed a woman on a desert road. She was crawling with her arms and upper body along the edge of the sand. He pulled over and heard her story. She was crippled and she was crawling toward the dump to find any scrap of food she could take back to her children. The upshot of this horrible story is that the young man went back to his home church somewhere in the states and got enough donations to start a little garage-style charity. He found old wheelchairs, refurbished them and drove them back to the poorest of the poor in South America.

Pretty soon he got his brother David involved and on the steps of his church, he partnered with several people who had money and wealth, not to mention a few spare wheel chairs, and the North Hollywood Wheels for Humanity was started. You can find them on the web and see that today they send wheelchairs and all sorts of ambulatory things to many different countries, all custom fitted to the needs of the crippled poor. They do it all through personal and corporate donations.

Money made that happen. After you have fed your family, you can feed someone else's family with canned goods and non-perishables that are no doubt languishing at the back of you cupboard. You can give money to any charity that catches your eye. Again, the Bible tells us that the poor will always be with us, but what a difference a dollar makes to someone in abject poverty. That same dollar falls out of the pocket of the rich and they never even notice.

The other side of the coin, if you will, is the person who makes money his very own God. It's more than just having the good life or keeping himself and his own in a lap of luxury. It becomes about power. Ah yes, the Bible again - power corrupts. I expect that this is the man who will have the greatest difficulty in finding that pathway to heavenly riches.

Anything that is done to hurt others or take away their dignity is contrary to spirituality. If money comes to someone and they can't use it to bring good things to others, then they might as well be locked up with their treasures hoping that the thieves don't break in. There are many stories that talk about the terrors people that are truly wealthy experience trying to protect their considerable nest eggs. It can be a burden. Just ask those where were recently bilked out of billions by Madoff, the former head of NAZDEC. One of those from whom he stole just committed suicide because he couldn't imagine life without his money.

Poverty sucks. If you can't afford food, clothing, your kids or even a dog, then poverty is as cruel in its way as the throbbing of the wealthy that suffer emotional pains over the possible loss of even a penny. The two sides of the dollar issue are the extremes. Neither seems to be enviable.

Not to sound like a socialist, but if the rich loosened up their purse strings a little, the poor might have a rung up the ladder of life. That's where the spirituality of the dollar comes in handy. Give a little so that many may benefit. If you are of the spiritual belief that your true treasures are laid up in heaven, giving will feel very good indeed. If you think this is the end of the line, just remember that standing just behind you as they slam down the old coffin lid are all of your heirs and friends just waiting to get their hands on the gold you can't take with you.