Highlights of Life

Wealth, money, riches…. poverty

Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 10:55 am | Posted in money | Leave a comment

This morning I turned on my computer, and the MSN homepage (which I’ve been meaning to change) popped with this the following titled article:  “Secret Millionaires Next Door.”  The title caught my eye, and instantly intrigued by the word “secret“, I clicked on the link.  Below is the link that leads to the article:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/EscapeTheRatRace/EscapeTheRatRace.aspx

The reality is that wealth in the materialistic, financial sense of the word is not all that it is cracked up to be.   And truth be told, I am sure the majority of us have a deep unsaid desire to achieve success in various aspects of our lives, not excluding the financial areas of wealth and prosperity.  I have yet to meet a 20 or 30 or 40 something year old who deeply desires to achieve financial poverty.  However the reality is that wealth, in and of itself, does not provide any measure of fulfillment or satisfaction.

It’s interesting how the Bible actually talks about money, wealth, and poverty quite a bit.  I find there is a lot of great advice and wisdom related to money and wealth in Proverbs, as well as throughout the rest of the Bible.  It talks of how to become wealthy and prosperous, as well as retain wealth, and more importantly, what our relational stance should be towards money and desiring money.  I would highly suggest reading various passages on money in the Bible, for the person who highly desires to get wealthy.

By the magic of the internet, I also happened to stumble upon a blog written by a New Yorker visiting Paris.  Overall, it seems her blog is rather cyncial, and although it’s not my perspective on life, hers is an interesting read.  Of particular note is her most recent post titled, “Close-Up“, which is actually a snap shot of the empty materialistic lives led by the wealthy in Paris.  In one short blurb (or several paragraphs), she conveys how empty, meaningless and fruitless a life the wealthy lead.  I’ve posted the link, because to some degree, I think she’s captured how empty and barren a life it can be (much better than I could ever write).

http://opinionistas.com/2007/02/22/close-up//

Ultimately if we greatly desire that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, we may very well be disappointed that the “pot of gold” truly was a “pot of emptiness”.