The Cracked Acorn: Money

In these modern times, not a day goes by without being bombarded with get-rich schemes. It could happen that you would get rich, but the odds are against the average person. Late in my career, retirement seminars were given on how to save and manage your money. Most will not have too much to manage. The problem is that we all should have opened savings accounts while still in diapers. All the nickels and quarters given us by our grandparents should have gone into the account and not into wax lips and Hopalong Cassidy comic books(these we should have saved!) Save and save and save till it piled up year after year in that bank of your choice; you and I would today be millionaires.

So here we are, we did all the right things to have money, now we want to live a long time to savor it, relax, read or write a novel and look at some beautiful sunsets.

But while we were savings our nickels, dimes, and quarters, we are told that we should have eaten all our vegetables, even if mom was serving broccoli, spinach, or brussel sprouts. We should have avoided fast food and eaten an apple in its place. Exercise should have been a basic staple of every day. Get up and move around and walk and climb stairs. And stress that old demon that is claiming so many should have been nailed at its early stages and never given a place in our lives. Regular physical examinations help to find problems in our aging bodies. We all want to enjoy our retirement funds.

The good news from the medical world is that people are living longer. It is not a surprise that senior citizens are easily reaching the eighties. Ten years ago the number of centenarians was 1 in 100,000; today it is 1 in 10,000. Medical science is predicting that it is possible that some may live to 120 years old. They don’t think it is possible to live beyond this, but years ago no one would have thought of reaching maybe 90. Those that are 100 have a good attitude, do challenging activities, exercise, and have good genes. So the truth is that like the get rich schemes, the chances for most of us to reach 100 are possible but slim. Our bodies like the 1962 Monza Corvair fade into the west when parts can no longer be replaced.

King Hezekiah (II Kings 18-20) had a deadly disease and avoided immediate death by praying to God. God heard him and gave Hezekiah 15 more years. Looking at Hezekiah’s life, he did lots of good things. He fought against idolatrous worship and restored the Temple. He made Judah politically stronger and expanded its borders. He also built an underground tunnel to bring water into Jerusalem, in case of a siege. The tunnel can be seen today. Because Hezekiah tried to lead a godly life God answered his prayers and he had a long and notable reign of 29 years.

From SACRED SELECTIONS

Somebody did a golden deed,
Proving himself a friend in need;
Somebody sang a cheerful song,
Brightening the sky the whole day long;
Somebody made a loving gift, cheerfully tried a load to lift,
Somebody told the love of Christ,
Told how his will was sacrificed;
Somebody filled the days with light,
Constantly chased away the night,
Somebody’s work bore joy and peace,
Surely his life shall never cease.
WAS THAT SOMEBODY YOU, WAS THAT SOMEBODY YOU?

(John R. Clements 1868-1946)