Running Out of Other People's Money
Something I've discovered, painfully at times, and always with sorrow. No matter how hard I try I can only spend the same dollar once. This has been devastating because there are only so many dollars in our budget, and there are always so many hands grasping for what we have.
I have used the illustration of my mom's philosophy and my own leanings when I was young and impressionable. She always wanted me (and my sister) to marry rich men so she could live well. Alas, for her at least, sister and I just married the scalawags who captured our hearts.
Mother and I would have such discussions as, 'You don't have to have money to be happy.' And her reply, 'Well just try living without it.'
It appears that life is a struggle to find balance. Balance between good and evil: Ecclesiastes 7:16 "Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?"
and
Ecclesiastes 7:17 "Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?"
I don't think one can be 'overmuch righteous' in a godly sense. Most people know of others who are 'holier than thou'—at least in their own eyes, and that's not a good thing to be.
Overmuch wicked on the other hand would be more attainable. Scripture encourages us not to even have evil or unworthy thoughts, let alone unworthy deeds. We are bombarded with stories of wicked people who set out to do abominable things.
As far as mom and I and our discussion of money, we were both right. Ecclesiastes seems to be the book of the day:
Ecclesiastes 10:19 "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh glad the life; and money answereth all things." Balanced with:
1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
So, here we are back in the balancing act. My Buddy bought a book for his library that he wants me to read. Dutifully I am in the process of reading it.
I do agree with some of the tenets so far, but there is a section on 'winners' that I find interesting and questionable. My question is this, how do we know who the winners are?
According to this author you will know who the winners are because they will stand out. They will drive good cars, live in nice houses, wear nice clothes, etc. and they will be happy...
I want to be a winner. I want to have a good attitude, help others. I want to do the right things, but herein lies the problem. In doing the right things we sometimes become an enemy of the world. Sometimes doing the right thing costs us time and money and in some instances even costs us our lives.
Sometimes being a winner makes us a loser: Matthew 16:25 "For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26) For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?"
I want to be a winner, but that doesn't mean I'll have all the best of the world's devices. Being a winner has more to do with the character on the inside of a person than the trappings that belong on the outside of the body.
Here, also from Ecclesiastes is a take away, the final clause being the key:
