If you're like me, you always like to have a little left over. Whether it's money at the end of the month, food at the end of a meal, or time at the end of the day, it gives me a feeling of security to have something extra set aside.

When it comes to money, our culture has nearly made a religion out of storing money. We have savings accounts, certificates of deposits, stocks, bonds, commodities and a myriad of financial products that each promise to protect us from future want. It is, at least to me, very attractive to think that it is possible to store enough of what I need away to eliminate any anxiety about money, food, or leisure.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells a story about a man who is so successful that he believes he can protect himself from harm. After a spectacular harvest the man is able to store his excess grain so that he can "rest, eat, drink and be merry" for years to come, ignoring the needs of others in his community.

Unfortunately, Jesus tells us, the man died just as he had secured his fortune. Jesus tells us that, "Thus it will be for those who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God."

Jesus suggests that storing away our excess gains is not necessarily the best way for us to secure a happy future. Sharing our excess, if we are so fortunate to have it, may be a safer bet.

This is counter to everything we are taught about financial health and responsibility - that we should be more concerned about "what matters to God" than we are about storing away treasures for ourselves. I mean, just about every image we see of successful financial management shows people in their retirement, looking about 40 years old, doing nothing but traveling, golfing and dining. Resting, eating, drinking and being merry.

Of course, the next logical questions are, just what "matters to God," and what does it mean to invest in this? Clearly, sharing with those in need matters to God. But perhaps more important than our contribution to our community are our goals for ourselves.

Do we aspire to merely rest, eat, drink and be merry? Or do we aspire to use our resources to be the kind of people we know we want to be? The problem for the rich man in the story may not be that he lacks a vision for the poor, but that he lacks a vision for himself.

We are challenged to be generous, not selfish. The first reading asks us, "What profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety with which he has labored under the sun?" The answer: "This also is vanity."

We are anxious about preparing for a future over which we have no control. We toil and labor to protect ourselves from its dangers. Today's readings ask us to focus on what we can control - how we use our lives for good, today.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa.