This
post was originally texted (months ago) to a friend through WhatsApp for humor. It is posted
here, unaltered and unmodified. Hopefully, it will make you think through many
issues: true ultimate treasure (Christ), contentment, economics, saving,
providence, rich-poor-middle, and even to
appreciate good novels and movies.
```RICHEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE (MATERIALLY)```
I saw a prediction
that Elon Musk could be the world's first trillionaire. There are over 2816
billionaires and 46.8 million millionaires in the world. BTW, that's calculated
in US dollars. We are from India, and most of us aren't even a lakhpati (that's
just 1321 US dollars anyway). We have only a few thousands or hundreds in our
wallet. Even some of our well-salaried friends couldn't
maintain $1000 saving at any given time.
Last evening I was
going through my diaries and journal to find out the richest moment of my life.
I was richest last year, on February 03, 2019, I had 61,000 rupees (equals $806
only). But by the next day, 04 February, I was reduced to 20,000 because I paid
my landlord 41,000 rupees as the rent fees. For someone who stepped into a
ministry with less than 500 rupees (equals only 6 dollars) in his wallet, and
the Lord providing thus far is indeed a story of providence.
Well, that's not a
lot of money, but do you realize that 21,000 people die every day without food in their
stomachs? Hmmm, that puts things into proper perspective! In my school days, Slam Books were very popular. One of the most interesting ‘fill up the
blanks’ was "If I were a millionaire, I would____." Now, in my
almost 30s, methinks becoming a millionaire (7 figure) is not easy after all.
Often it’s the 4 figure (that too in Rupees) is what many of us have.
There are millions
of millionaires and millions of people dying out of hunger on our earth.
Fortunately, we are neither of them, but that could make us Pharisees if we
complain against the rich and not care about the poor. After all, no matter how
much or little we have, we want more and not lesser.
We treasure what we
have. And in the word of our Lord, where our treasure is, there our hearts will
be. The Lord of the Rings Movie demonstrated that graphically as Gollum, Bilbo
and even Frodo adored the ring frequently and said "My Precious"
throughout the movie. And like the Gandalf and Samwise we must be quick to act
if and when we take pleasure (or take a breath of relief) in our possession.