This article by Ray Spitzenberger first appeared in Images for East Bernard Tribune, 4 August 2022.
A few days ago, someone remarked to me, “It might be good to think about “wealth” or “riches” in a different way.
It’s my hunch that most people I know usually think the same way I have been thinking about “wealth” or “riches,” even though our orthodox Christian faith teaches us otherwise. We typically think it’s how much money we earn, how many expensive things we own, or how large our investments portfolio is. In my quest to re-think the meaning of “riches” I found the following interesting words from Holy Scripture.
“Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an Eagle” (Proverbs 23:5), and “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, poor, yet making many rich; having nothing and yet everything” (2 Corinthians6:10).
As I recently reflected upon these texts, I realized they were no doubt the reason for the decisions I made throughout my adult life, decisions that did not fill my pockets or my bank account full of money, decisions I made, because I accepted the Biblical definition of “riches.”
In looking back at my life through the lens of this kind of thinking, I can share with you the re-discovery of my riches.
I’ll start with last month, which was one of the riches moments of my life, — it occurred when I met my new grandbaby for the first time. I held her. We looked at each other. I smiled, she smiled, almost simultaneously, and I felt like the richest grandfather in the whole world! It was love at first sight.
Looking back at less happy times, I saw riches, too. My mother was an old-fashioned country lady, whom we looked after when she was dying of cancer. A devout Christian, she was not afraid of dying, but she was terrified of doctors, nurses, clinics and hospitals. Taking her to the clinic and to medical labs was very difficult for both of us.
During one lab visit, my mother was very distraught, looking very frightened when the lab technician came in to draw her blood. After the “stick” with a deadly-looking needle, the lab tech bent over with tears in her eyes and kissed my mother tenderly on the forehead. Mama’s eyes and face brightened like sunlight. One of the “richest” moments in those difficult days! No amount of money could have bought that moment!
Living on a limited retirement income and with limited physical abilities, my wife and I have had to “downsize” our large yard of beautiful plants and flowers.
We have created little sections of beauty, conveniently located for easy viewing. So, each morning, I go to the kitchen to make coffee, and I look out the kitchen window.
I see splashes of beautiful colors adorning several terra cotta pots, the purslane bursting with bloom in full sun (yes, I am a late riser)! This late-morning view is framed by a blooming orchid on each side of the windowsill. Silver and gold cannot buy such morning splendor!
Last night, we played our favorite card game, Hand and Foot, with another retired pastor and his wife. The wives always beat the husbands, so the game itself is not very exciting. It’s the fun talk and the shared laughter that is priceless. When my slightly scattered brained wife absentmindedly put her “hand” with her “foot,” and created game chaos, the husbands laughed so hard tears rolled down our cheeks, and the wives laughed until their sides hurt. Front row seats at the funniest show on Broadway could not buy this much laughter. Having fun together with dear old friends is priceless!
My life experiences affirm those words from Scripture, “having nothing and yet possessing everything.” Some meaningful re-thinking.
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Ray Spitzenberger is a retired Wharton County Junior College teacher, a retired Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor, and author of three books, It Must Be the Noodles, Open Prairies, and Tanka Schoen.