Who Pays the Bill?

A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble

Aug 06, 2026

“Hear this, you who trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?’” —Amos 8:4–5

industrial harbor with smokestack pollution — Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash

Yesterday I read that eight of the world’s largest oil companies earned nearly $93 billion in profit between April and June. More than $700,000 every minute.1

During those three months, there was war with Iran, which disrupted oil supplies and pushed prices higher. Europe faced deadly heat, drought ruined crops, and wildfires destroyed homes and forests. The same fossil fuels making shareholders richer are also heating the planet and causing more of these disasters.

I tried to picture $700,000 coming in every minute. Before I could even think about the first million, another million would already be arriving.

Then I thought about what it would be like to be an elderly person alone in an apartment during a heatwave, too worried about the electric bill to turn on the air conditioner. Or a farmer looking at a ruined crop. Or a parent getting their kids into the car as wildfire smoke fills the sky.

These lives are all part of the same story, but our economic news often keeps them separate.

When a corporation announces its quarterly earnings, we hear if investors should celebrate. The costs that hit families, communities, and the environment show up somewhere else, if they show up at all. Economists call these costs externalities. That word makes the suffering seem like it’s outside what matters. But the heat still affects someone’s body. The smoke still gets into someone’s lungs. Someone always pays.

Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, a professor of theological and social ethics, says that “finance is a deeply spiritual and moral matter.”2 Money shapes who gets food, water, education, and health care, and whether we keep adding greenhouse gases to the air. She reminds us that our neighbor is anyone our life touches, whether directly or not.

That makes for a very large neighborhood. It includes people we’ll never meet, like those living near refineries or in countries already suffering from extreme heat. It also includes animals losing their homes and children who will deal with choices made before they were born. If my pension grows because another community takes on the pollution, that community is now part of my economic life. Distance doesn’t erase that connection.

Saint Basil the Great spoke very directly about wealth in the fourth century: “The bread you store belongs to the hungry.” He believed that keeping more than we need while others suffer means we are not being good stewards. What we have comes with responsibilities.3

But our economy needs us to deny this. It treats anything we can legally get as ours alone. If the market rewards a company for shortages caused by war, that profit is seen as good luck. If making and selling a product harms the climate, the damage is left for governments, families, and future generations to handle.

This system isn’t inevitable. Laws decide which costs companies have to cover. Where we invest shapes which industries grow. Public subsidies and tax rules show whose well-being we choose to protect.

We are entangled in these systems too. Most of us rely on fossil fuels for work, travel, heating our homes, and getting what we need. Shame won’t solve this, and it’s not fair to act like everyone shares the same responsibility. A family filling up their car doesn’t have the same power as an oil company investing billions or a government making regulations.

Spiritual life starts by helping us notice what we usually overlook. Money moves through relationships. Every financial choice affects more than just the person making it. The real question is whether those connections bring harm or care.

Maybe that’s what the prophet Amos wanted people to see in the Hebrew Bible. He saw merchants keep the Sabbath but couldn’t wait to get back to business, where they cheated the poor with unfair prices and measures. Their worship and their business were part of the same moral life. Ours are too.

This week, choose one place where your money carries influence: a retirement fund, a bank, a utility company, a congregational endowment. Learn one thing about what it finances. Ask who benefits, who bears the risk, and whose losses go unseen.

Then decide what “love of neighbor” asks of you there.

We are in this together,

Cameron

Reflection Questions

When you hear that a company has made record profits, what questions do you ask about how those profits were produced?
Where do the environmental and human costs of your daily life remain hidden from you?
What financial decision—personal, congregational, or institutional—could you examine more closely?

A Prayer for the Day

A Prayer For Counting What Matters

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

Holy One,

open our eyes
to the costs hidden beneath our comfort.

Remind us that no suffering
falls outside your care.

Teach us to use what we have
with courage, humility, and love,
so that our choices might honor the earth
and protect our neighbors.

Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Read the Hidden Ledger

Choose one financial relationship in your life: a retirement account, bank, utility company, congregation, employer, or frequently purchased product.

Spend fifteen minutes learning where the money goes and whose lives are affected. Then take one concrete step. Ask a question, change an investment, reduce unnecessary consumption, contact a decision-maker, or support an organization working for climate justice.

The purpose is not to become pure within an impure system. It is to become more honest about our participation, and more faithful with the power we have.

Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…

My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.

August 4 - September 1, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are reading our next book, “I Eat The Stars” by Sarah Wilson. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.

August 6, 2026, 7-8pm ET - FREE EVENT - Join me in conversation with Rev. Natalia Terfa about her new book, “It All Counts: Finding God Beyond the Boundaries.” What if the moments you’ve been taught don’t “count” spiritually are actually where God is waiting to be found? Many of us were handed a version of faith that divided life into sacred and secular, holy and ordinary, faithful and doubtful. But what if those boundaries were never real? Whether you’ve left church, stayed in it, or find yourself somewhere in between, this conversation will offer fresh language for a faith that is expansive, embodied, and deeply human. REGISTER HERE.

August 20, 2026, 7-8:45pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman for an online session on practicing eidetics as a part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” monthly series. Eidetic Imagery is a powerful tool for pastors, denominational leaders, coaches, and spiritual directors working with others, and for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing in their own lives. Jackie is a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, and has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.

September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.

September 14, 7-8:30pm ET ONLINE EVENT - I’m delighted to share that Dr. Margaret Wheatley is releasing a newly updated edition of her beloved book Perseverance: A Companion for the Journey this October. Written for those committed to serving the world with compassion in difficult times, the book offers daily wisdom and practical guidance for navigating grief, anger, exhaustion, and uncertainty while remaining rooted in love, courage, and presence. Meg and I will be in conversation to explore what perseverance looks like in this moment of history and how we can sustain ourselves for the long work ahead. I hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a deeply meaningful conversation. REGISTER HERE.

October 6, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again to launch a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for an 18-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.

Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…

I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.

My dear friend and Buddhist teacher, Isa Gucciardi PhD, leads this amazing center call The Foundation of the Sacred Stream. On August 13 from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Pacific (8:30 pm – 10:00 pm Eastern), they will be hosting an online event called “Compassion for the Modern Heart with Geshe Gedun Samdup.” In a world that moves quickly and often feels fragmented, compassion is not a luxury—it is a vital practice for staying present, connected, and resilient. This class offers a grounded and accessible exploration of compassion through the lens of Tibetan Buddhism’s three distinct forms of compassion: compassion for all beings, compassion for conditioned phenomena, and objectless compassion. Together, these teachings provide a practical and deeply nourishing framework for meeting the complexities of modern life with clarity and care. LEARN MORE HERE.

I’m delighted to celebrate the upcoming release of Wisdom Church: Abundant Life for Aging Congregations by my colleague, Rev. Dr. Anna Hall. Rather than seeing aging congregations as communities in decline, Anna invites us to recognize them as communities rich with wisdom, purpose, and possibility. Her book offers a hopeful vision for moving beyond anxiety about the future and embracing the unique gifts of older adults as beloved children of God. If your congregation is navigating these questions, this is a resource well worth reading. You can preorder the Kindle edition now, with delivery on August 17: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Church-Abundant-Aging-Congregations-ebook/dp/B0HBXGYTWC

Every Monday, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.

If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.