Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for it suddenly takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven. Proverbs 23:4-5, NRSV

Churches and libraries pay enough for a good life, but not a fancy or frivolous one. The two bedroom Cape we purchased when our children were young is the house we still own; we’ve had Toyotas, Subarus, Mazdas, VWs, and Smart cars over the years – the smaller ones with good gas mileage. Since I never wanted a big house or a luxury car, I don’t consider it a sacrifice of life quality to do without them.

Time, on the other hand, is precious to me. The luxury of not needing a full time/beyond full time job to pay the bills meant more time to spend with those I love, doing meaningful work that didn’t come with a paycheck or title, and the slower life pace helped me enjoy the years rather than just get through them.

Time does take wing, flying away never to return. Spending it well means having less in my wallet to spend. Money and material things – I can’t take them with me. The memories and life time brought – who knows if I can take them with me when I die. But that’s not the point. Leaving them behind for others is.

Whoever belittles another lacks sense, but an intelligent person remains silent. Proverbs 11:12

More than once, my first opinion of someone turned out to be wrong. Because my parents and grandparents advised keeping silent rather than saying negative things to or about others, I had the chance to get beyond my first impressions. Several times, wonderful friendships grew out of these less than positive first encounters – loose lips didn’t sink friendships.

I wonder: how often has someone else kept silent when I made a less than stellar first impression? Just as my life has been blessed by my keeping silent, I’d bet my life has been blessed by others keeping silent about their initial impression of me. It’s grace I’ll never be able to quantify, but no less precious because it remains unrecognized and uncounted.

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us wantonly ambush the innocent; like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit. We shall find all kinds of costly things; we shall fill our houses with booty.

Throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” – my child, do not walk in their way, and keep your foot from their paths; for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood. For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on; yet they lie in wait – to kill themselves! and set an ambush – for their own lives! Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors. Proverbs 1:11-19

If we are willing to get rich at the expense of others, we value material gain over their very lives. Others become a means to our own financial ends, and we don’t bother to count the cost they bear – raided IRA’s, stolen identities, grossly underpaid labor. What do we care, as long as we get the life of luxury we want?

But there’s a high cost for such things. When we delude ourselves into thinking we can put a price (and a low one, at that) on the well-being of others, we cannot help but put a price on our own lives. The more our ill-gotten estate is worth, the lower our own value. Who we are becomes what we have taken from others, and we are diminished by the very gains we expected to elevate us. The free ride we steal may remain free, but its destination takes a heavy toll.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. I Timothy 6:10, NRSV