We Can’t Get No

My father had a phrase he used over and over during my childhood.  He said, “The higher they go, the harder they fall.”  I just saw an article on the NRA pointing out that they have multiple woes.  This is not surprising.  Regardless of what you think of them, they have lived the high life for many, many years.  What they wanted, they got.  The CDC cannot even investigate gun deaths.  It’s against the law.  The NRA thought they were the law.  But what they were not is judicious.  My mother always said people disliked me for my vocabulary, so let me rephrase:  They used bad judgment and lacked good sense. (The mother thing can wait for another time.  I am quite sure people dislike me for bigger reasons than she thought. My vocabulary is unimpressive.) 

The NRA spent money like it was water flowing from a rain soaked river over an inadequate dam.  Their leader is reported to have made close to two million dollars a year.  Then, he charged travel and other expenses to them.  By the time anyone noticed, he had apparently damaged them in money and in illegal spending and shifting of funds. 

We can all learn from such examples.  We have created a society that cannot be satisfied.  You want a house with three bedrooms and two and a half baths.  Only, when you get it, there isn’t room for two sinks in the master bathroom.  So, you need a new house with three bedrooms and two and a half baths and double sinks in the master bathroom.  How many times have you seen an HGTV house hunter refuse a house because they don’t like the kitchen countertops?  Did you yell, “Hey, Dummy, that’s an easy fix!”? Probably not, because you knew that they had more issues than the countertops.  What they were saying is “this isn’t satisfying me, right now.”  And we are not insensitive enough to think it is limited to them.  It mirrors our everyday.

We teach our dissatisfaction to our children.  They want an Xbox.  Then, they want certain games.  Then, those games are no longer fun, so they want more games.  Then, they want a new edition Xbox.  Get that, and they will suddenly be old enough to want their own phone. Did you know phones are better when you have cordless earphones?  

It starts with a question.

“What do you want?”

It can be about Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, birthdays, a bad day, or many other reasons. 

It makes, “What do you need?” sound old fashioned and out of vogue.

The best lesson on over sating is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”  Then, he explains that by telling us that saints seeking righteousness inherit the earth.  “Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.”  God covers you.  God provides for you.  In the sample prayer (or Lord’s Prayer) in the same sermon, he says, “Give us this day our daily bread,” not “Give us everything we want today and more tomorrow.”  When was the last time you felt like you could be content with food and clothing? I actually think people would enjoy getting off of the insatiable rollercoaster.

I believe serving God’s goodness instead of wealth makes more sense to us than we can bring ourselves to admit. Many remember the home where they felt most welcome.  Maybe it was their Grandpa and Grandma’s, maybe a friend’s house where all kids were welcome, or even someone’s back yard with a volleyball net.  Fine homes were where we were afraid to touch anything; they were seldom welcoming.  You know how to inherit the earth? Forget its bright baubles and embrace what is provided. 

The NRA is like a health and wealth preacher.  Give your money to them to improve your life.  And then watch them buy up mansions and trips to Italy and planes and legislators and even Presidents while your life stays very much the same. Double your money, the oldster says, by folding it over and putting it in your wallet.  It’s a great plan.  Learn contentment.  There are examples all around you of what discontent buys.  The higher you go, the greater the fall when you can no longer support your own greediness. SPLAT! is a terrible sound.