Notes from Norman

WEALTH IS NOT MEASURED BY MONEY

WEALTH IS NOT MEASURED BY MONEY

If you know me, you know that I like cowboy shows. When a new western comes along I usually want to see it. By and large the motion picture industry considers westerns unprofitable, so when one sneaks through it’s a significant occasion. Besides that, I’m something of a Robert Duvall fan, so when you get Robert Duvall in a western, you’ve just about got to see it. Broken Trail didn’t really measure up to the standards of Lonesome Dove, but even Duvall admits that you can’t expect another Lonesome Dove for another hundred years. But it was good.

Despite the cussing, and the ethics of some of the characters, it turned out to be a morality play. I’ll resist the temptation to review it, except to say that I was impressed with a line of dialogue spoken by Print Ritter, the Duvall character. At one point he tells his nephew, “You can’t measure wealth by money.”

In a world where everything seems to have a dollar value, that’s profound. As it happened I was doing some research on India yesterday. Among other things I learned that the average annual family income in India is the equivalent of 480 American dollars.

I began reflecting on my own experiences in rubbing shoulders with people in the Third World. I remember a Honduran brother who told me, “In Honduras, we are poor country, but we are happy.” Can you say that about Americans? We’re unhappy when the color of our drapes doesn’t match the sofa. I remember that Jesus said, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Every morning when I walk out of my four bedroom, air conditioned house, and start the engine in my luxury automobile, I need to remember what Print Ritter said, “You can’t measure wealth by money.”

posted by Norman @ 6:56 AM