If I had a million dollars...

I had a thought as I stepped into the shower this morning. As I do most mornings, I reached down and made sure the washcloth was hanging over the drain handle so the tub won’t fill up with water. It then occurred to me, do rich people live with quirky little things like this? I don’t know how long the spring has been broken, but its one of those things you just kind of live with. The bad thing was that it made me think of all the other busted stuff around my house, like the leaky kitchen faucet and the fridge that drips water during the defrost cycle. That led to thinking about all the cabinet doors with broken clasps and the pocket door that always falls off the track and the 3 light ceiling fan with two operational sockets. Then there’s our minivan without a heater, the pesky leak in the roof, and the……. You get the picture. Not a good way to start the day. Then it got worse with “If only I was rich...” Thankfully, I didn’t stay in that frame of mind too long. I’ve lived long enough to know that there will always be something else to worry about. Once I got the tub drain fixed, I’d probably look at the chips in the tile and think, “Should I replace those?” If I trade the van in for a new one, I’ll worry about it getting door dings. Prosperity always brings with it a new challenge. One challenge I find interesting is how prosperity has the tendency to create distance and diminish a sense of community. What is one of the first things a person wants to do when he/she come into a large increase of salary or inheritance or windfall of some kind? Get a bigger house. More room plus more space equals more distance between each other. If one is not careful, prosperity can buy us out of each other’s way. Here’s where we need to be diligent to ensure that blessing begets blessing. Acquiring wealth always carries with it an insidious temptation. Once you get it, you want to keep it. The more you obsess on keeping it, the less free you become. The gift morphs into the burden. No one wants that. So tomorrow when I get in the shower, I’ll drape the washcloth on the drain handle and remind myself that I’ve got it pretty good.