Privilege and Responsibility

“Generous to a Fault”

SGHolland 2019

As I read the scandalous headlines about certain wealthy people using their assets to assist their children in getting into prestigious colleges, I am having
once again a sense of relief that I have never been a very wealthy person.

How simple it must be for a parent with vast resources to just pay out some benevolent bucks in order to assure their child gets the “best of the best” in the way of everything, including schooling.

Why would a parent with money to burn not use it as joyfully to finesse their daughter or son into Yale as they might to buy them a Ferrari or a ten thousand dollar wedding dress?

Likely it’s a shrug to make such an obvious decision for your child’s future.

People with a close budget are much more aware of money than those with a fortune to spend. Really they are.

I realize that I might have been generous to a fault if I had millions of dollars in my vault. Good works feel good.

In God’s wisdom, I have not been able to do much damage with throwing money around to get whatever I want. Who knows what I might have bought! Possibly a mansion hanging over the Pacific Ocean — Oh, the sea right outside my window! — that might slide down the verge during a climatic disaster. How much would that have cost in the end? Perhaps even a life!

And would I have conveniently leveraged my children into “the good life” if I had been wealthy? Would I have been carefree enough to throw money at a shyster who could arrange special privileges to my kids and grand-kids? Would I have felt guilty? Would I be mortified when I was found guilty?

Wealthy folks need the wisdom of Solomon.

How did Solomon get so wise?

Just thinking….

©SGHolland 2019 March