Life is not a game of Thrones; it is real and everlasting!

Wouldn’t it be great if we could wake up wondering what to do with all the wealth we have that most people do not have? What occurs in our mind is the power we enjoy and no one is able to take it away from me. Yet, the world we currently live in promotes the idea that once you gain an untold amount of earthly treasure and have the ability to keep others from attaching their greedy hands on it, you have reached the pinnacle of success many have heard about while growing up, and never find those hidden valuables that just a few own.

The society of take and grab that we now struggle with becomes a challenge of remembering the golden rule of treating others as you would expect to be treated. There is a consequence of ignoring this simple suggestion that removes the thought of arrogance from our minds and considers how others are affected by our selfish attitude. But the wonderment that exposes us upon waking up and feeling like we own the world, or a portion we have in the bank, places a superiority complex within ourselves that can eventually tear down the rampart we have surrounded our selfishness with. This is what the desire for wealth in earthly possessions will do to us when the walls of an enclosure, our own thoughts of protecting the vaults securing our wealth, seek to expand the untouchable gold in our hearts.

There is a fear that often too many people who have accumulated so much that they cannot even calculate how much they have, will succumb to the challenge of the many who want to take from our coffers some of what is protected by armed security agents. This is not to promote a socialist rule of communism leading to Marxism, but a warning that Jesus expressed; “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroys, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth and decay destroy, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” (Mt 6: 19 - 21).

A game of Thrones exposes the wealthy to others who will find a way to steal what they have, including their self-esteem and secure feeling that they are untouchable in their treasures that are turning to dust and decay.

Two men die, one very wealthy and the other a pauper without a penny to his name. Both are laid in the ground with six feet of dirt covering their final resting place. They both took with them the clothes they were dressed in and maybe a crucifix added. That is the last picture of their wealth. See the parable of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar. ( Lk 16: 19 - 31).

Another sad occurrence with money is when the desire to have what others are endowed with in life. The thought that God owes them more than they have and were ignored when the gifts were handed out. Yet the gifts each one was given may not necessarily have been earthly treasures. My gifts are spending time with the indigent of our world and ensuring that God absolutely cares for them. This you can take with you.

Ralph B. Hathaway