A Merrier World

I overheard my parents having a conversation recently after hearing about the lottery winners on the news:
"It would be so great to pay off all of our debts."
"And we could give half the money to the church, and to the OCMC" {Orthodox Mission Center}
"I don't even think I'd want to move into a bigger house. Maybe we could just buy a second home..."

Yea, I would not say no to a second home if it looked like this.

It made me laugh inside.
And not because I thought they were being silly,
or that I was above them or anything like that:
It was because Peter and I had the same conversation about a month ago.
It went the same way-
We'd give money to the church,
Pay off our school loans,
Send our children to good colleges,
Help out our loved ones if they've fallen down.

And in theory,
Throwing money at people and problems seems a brilliant idea.
Money always makes people happy, right?

right. Not exactly.
We've all seen how The Great Gatsby ends
{ok, maybe Baz Lurhmann hasn't. He kind of lost the plot there...}

And I know this is not a new rant;
We live in a consumer society, I get that-
We have the freedom of choice,
and we must always have the Next Big Thing.
In fact, we must have ALL THE THINGS,
if we are to eventually find happiness.
That's what the commercials are saying these days, anyways.
Merry Christmas to all, right?

shout out to Allie Brosch, whose book happens to be one of my gifts for a certain sibling...ahem. 

I've noticed a lot of bloggers post 'wish lists,'
They maybe thinly veiled under a guise of 'for that special someone'
{i.e. things you WISH that he'd wear}
or a little less subtle
like what you'll be buying for yourself with your crisp Christmas bills,
'your prize for being good all year'....

Don't get me wrong;
I'm all for a proper gift guide!
For one, I've gotten at least three gift ideas from these kinds of posts,
Many of which are pretty spot on and have some great ideas for what to get for loved ones
{Joanna Goddard's very often hit the nail on the head.}
And I am DEFINITELY victim to this consumer mindset.
My closet is literally spilling over with stuff,
And yet I still feel like I need more, somehow;
This essential cardigan or that absolutely necessary cognac boot
{c'mon, self, you live in Florida. You do not need leather riding boots. let it go}

The truth is,
We really don't need all the things,
I doubt we even need most of the things.
And we certainly don't need to win the lottery do good and to live a good life
I mean, look where it gets Thorin Oakenshield,
The King under the Mountain, when he wins back his piles of riches and gold, and the arkenstone.
{hint/spoiler alert: it doesn't get him very far}

                                                                                                                                                 


 Anyways, the best I can do is repeat the words of another who is wiser than me:

"if more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

You know where that's from, don't you?
Have a blessed Christmas, everyone <3