quick pseudo-stir-fry<\/a> for dinner):<\/p>\nHow do you make sense of this in the year 2015?<\/p>\n
Sure, in the year 33 AD, you work \u2019til you die, or perhaps \u2019til, in old age, your children care for you. \u00a0No such thing, really, as saving for the future \u2014 not for retirement, not for furthering your education, or buying a house, nor for starting a business. \u00a0And if you\u2019re poor, there\u2019s not a heck of a lot you can do about it, not much in the way of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.<\/p>\n
But in 2015?<\/p>\n
To be sure,there are questions around the choice of lifestyle we live. \u00a0A closet full of shoes? \u00a0Golf every weekend? \u00a0Or do you pick up your duds at the Goodwill? \u00a0(Me, I tell myself that I\u2019ll get a new wardrobe once I\u2019ve lost these last 5 pounds. . . but I\u2019ve been telling myself that for the last five years or so.)<\/p>\n
On the other hand, we\u2019d love to take the family to a Broadway-style show. \u00a0Is it being to spendthrift to to buy the $59 seats? \u00a0The $89 seats? \u00a0Remember, we\u2019re a family of 5. \u00a0And that\u2019s being frugal enough to plan a theater outing while visiting the folks in Detroit. \u00a0\u2018Round here, the prices are $117 or $147 per ticket. \u00a0Is it foolish to spend that much money, when we could be writing a check for that amount to charity instead? \u00a0(Though, who am I kidding? \u00a0Newsies in Detroit has plenty of availability around Christmastime; The Lion King in Chicago is virtually all sold out.)<\/p>\n
(Side observation: \u00a0you want a great value in symphony tickets? \u00a0That\u2019s Detroit. \u00a0$25 per person \u2013 and a trivial expense for onsite garage parking, and easy access from the burbs.)<\/p>\n
But assuming that we\u2019re not living an inappropriately-extravagant lifestyle, what do we do with the money? \u00a0In the year 2015, it\u2019s necessary to save \u2014 for retirement and for the kids\u2019 college funds. \u00a0Ironically, even though I work for a pension consulting firm, they\u2019ve never offered a defined benefit pension plan; it\u2019s a requirement<\/em> to save, unless you believe that Christ calls us to the standard of living that comes from Social Security alone. \u00a0So if you live non-extravagantly, but plow your savings, due to living below your means, into retirement funds rather than (only) into charitable donations, are you doing wrong? \u00a0Or if, once you reach the age where your savings permits you to retire, if you choose to do so, rather than continuing to work, and donating the money you would have otherwise spent on yourself, are you doing wrong?<\/p>\nSure, I\u2019m overthinking this. \u00a0And if you don\u2019t believe that scripture is of any relevance, then you\u2019re probably not the audience for this post. \u00a0But: \u00a0what do you think?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For those of you at a Catholic or reasonably liturgical Protestant church today, you heard the reading of the widow\u2019s mite, as well as, most likely, a homily\/sermon on\u00a0sacrificial giving. Elsewhere in the readings cycle, we\u2019ll all hear \u00a0Matthew 6:25 \u2013 34, and the injunction not to worry about tomorrow but rather to \u201cLook at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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