Futility of Riches

On my other site, a discussion of debt and foreclosure has prompted me to further consideration of money, of riches, of earthy possessions. The Bible speaks extensively on the subject and wisely guides toward little regard for riches.

“There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” Proverbs 13:7

From his Moralia, consider these words of the Greek philosopher, Plutarch:

“Heap up gold, amass wealth, build stately promenades, fill your house with slaves and the city with your debtors; unless you put a stop to your insatiate desires and quit yourself of fears and anxieties, you are but decanting wine for a man in a fevr. Does yot your observation of sick persons teach you that they dislike and reject the costliest viands which their attendants offer and try to force upon them; and then later, when their whole condition has changed, they get up and have joy and satisfaction eating plain bread with cheese and cress?

It is such a condition that reason creates in the soul. You will be contented with your lot if you learn what the honorable and good is. You will be luxurious in poverty and live like a king. Wealth will give you gladness with the good you will do to many; poverty, for your freedom from many cares; repute, for the honors you will enjoy; and obscurity, for the certainty that you shall not be envied.

I want God to create in my mind, and in my soul, a craving–not for possessions or houses or holdings or coins, but for God’s holy Presence and sweet communion. Beside such, all else pale, are recognized for their futility and soon fade into oblivion.

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