My family was (is) not wealthy by any means. When your father is an elementary school principal, well  – you get the picture. And yet, we always had everything we needed. Granted, our summer vacations were not at time shares or five–star resorts (they were tent camping at KOA) but we saw a lot of the country and the major destinations.

My wife Debbie’s family? Maybe not the polar opposite, but very different. They enjoyed a much more lavish life than I was used to. A house with a pool on a waterway. Nicer cars. Fancy restaurants. A trip to Europe. Reconciling the two made for some unease in my parents. But when love deepens, going from the Cupid arrow to willing to share in the compromises and struggles in life, then you see God’s guiding hand in the reconciled life.           I have not given Debbie the kind of modestly affluent life she could have had, but we are rich in spirit. She has never complained or expressed regret. Still I struggle with the fact that I have perceived meagerness as an inability to give more. I am so far removed from the widow in the temple whom Jesus observed giving everything she had. Everything she lived on. That is a level of trust I may never achieve.

I wonder, now that I’m a pastor, if  I should expect that the wealthiest parishioners will naturally give the majority of the church budget. Like many people these days, I feel anger and resentful that the wealthiest in our country seem to evade the taxation that breaks the rest of us. It’s a fool’s errand. Daily I need to confess how I feel. I confess my attitude toward those who are well off, not able or willing to consider that they thank the Giver and respond accordingly, whether I’m aware of it or not. It is the unconditional love of God that holds it all together, and we must not judge or question His wealth given with no strings attached.

Pastor Art