Scrooge, as played by Jim Carey, the archetype of a life of poverty as wages for a love of money.
(By the way, that 2009 retelling of A Christmas Carol was the best version I’ve seen. We watched it twice last season.)
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.*
Here’s a truth about one of our favorite preoccupations. But note that it’s not really about money, it’s about a love affair with it.
God knows we need income, and promises our sustenance one way or another. He also reminds us that a person’s worth does not consist of the sum of his possessions. Still, it can take over . . . a one-sided love affair with a partner that is always elusive, generally unfaithful, looking beyond, and just not as interested in us as we are in her.
One defense is to be as casual about her as she is about us.
Anne and I just had another experience with her. We were offered the opportunity of showing and selling our art at a giant home and garden show. Throngs of people would be there, and it not being an art show per se, there would be little competition. Plus, every home needs art, right?
Wrong! At least not in the eyes of those who passed us by with hardly a glance. It’s not that we hadn’t done our part . . . a full week of preparation, plenty of out of pocket in expenses, the best examples of our art, all the wisdom we could muster, and prayers. Yet in the three days of the event, we made not a penny.
What’s with that?
Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s our prices? Maybe it’s the state of the culture generally. Or maybe it was just the wrong event for us. There may be a hundred reasons, and we endeavor to learn from it all.
On other levels, maybe it’s a test of resolve, or maybe it’s guidance, or maybe it’s just another example of the irregularities of life. Nobody’s exempt from these things.
One thing it wasn’t was a big disappointment. Why? Because it wasn’t only about the money anyway. That would have been one measure of success, and a nice one, but there are always others. We made a number of friends, made a few people happy with gifts or encouragements, became wiser through it all, and generally had a good time. When I think about it, my love for those things is a lot more reciprocal than any love affair with money.
Besides that, we never missed a meal, had everything we needed, traveled in a functioning car and returned to a comfortable home. All these things are being provided for somehow.
There are many ways to measure success. Money’s one; but not if it’s wished for too much. Then the wishing never ends.
Wishing you all contentment, and peace, today.
___________________________
*Ecclesiastes 5:10
Next: The Passive Path to Ruin. Coming Friday.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
9:27 am
Hyatt, I have grappled with this being rewarded by money many times in my life! The one thing I have come away with lately is, that when I am working for money, it is a way of saying thank you for a job well done. I know that when I get money, I can’t hold onto it for safe keeping because it needs to be spent for food, housing, etc……………. so I can’t hoard it, and I can’t take it with me when I pass, which we will all do someday, but God knows when I need it as a form of a thank you. Simply speaking, I am so thankful when He allows it to come to me as a form of a thank you, for being a good and faithful servant. This does not go entirely with what you shared today, but it is what has been revealed to me lately. I just love it in the form of a blessing, a thank you, a gift from God. Then it is satisfying. Best, Lisa
6:18 pm
That’s a good thought, Lisa. Biblically speaking, “With food and clothing, be ye content.” And, receiving such, appreciating those simple, sustaining gifts as tokens of God’s love, is where most of us would like to be. Hyatt, your experience confirms the idea that God’s not a tame God. We simply cannot put all the makings of a fruitful event together, and expect this and such to come out of it. It’s humorous (almost) that you guys came away with not one sale. It’s like God saying, “Well?” And your’s was just the response He would delight in … looking for blessings in places other than the money. And, from the sound of things, you two passed the test! With our eyes on the Giver, we’ll be well-covered.
7:19 pm
That was too good . . . and very timely for us. Not to keep our eyes on the money, but on the One who provides it. Very often lately we have said it is too bad we’re too old to earn some money for necessary “extras,” but God gives us all we need when we need it. Ed thinks as the man who is the provider and marvels that the Lord is using a few Partners to keep us going when we’re not in “full-time” ministry. He thinks he should be doing more! I’m sure the Lord is taking care of the “more.” Just now he’s immersed in an outline for Revelation which he will teach this summer in a Sunday School class as a sub. I’m sure he’ll see that someday as being the “more” he thinks he should be doing. I know he’s not a Moore, but to me he’s “more” than enough, (Thought you’d like that “Moore stuff.” (^_^)
Thanks again!
9:41 pm
So right to the head of the matter you go again. Money is good for necessities and maybe a little more, but it does make a very cold bedfellow! Look where it got the Rich Young Ruler? Or Judas Iscariot? So sad.
I have seen several versions of Scrooge, but not the one you mentioned.
11:01 pm
Easy come, easy go – or hard come, easy go. Either way, away $ goes!
We certainly aren’t taking it with us.
11:41 am
Perfect example and great reminder of what’s important in a God-pleasing, rewarding life. Thanks