Money = happiness?

“Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.” - Ecclesiastes 10:19

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” - I Timothy 6:10

The key to good advertising is to convince the potential consumers that their lives are much better with the product being advertised. Moms and children get along better with the right laundry detergent, you can run faster with the right shoes, and your wife will love you even more with the right diamonds. The smiles on those actors’ faces can be extremely convincing.

So, what makes you smile?

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Monopoly: Here & Now

I haven’t played Monopoly in forever, but I thought I’d take a looksee at the new Monopoly: Here & Now. Hasbro let everyone vote on which new U.S. landmarks should get the higher coveted spots. Times Square and Fenway Park won the Park Place and Boardwalk spots. I think it’s kind of funny that Texas Stadium got the lame low-rent areas. If you Google the keywords “monopoly” and “texas stadium,” the first article actually mentions how some Texan was ticked off they picked Texas Stadium of all sites to see in Texas.

In addition to the new landmarks, the chance and community chest cards have more modern events, the pieces are different (you can be McDonalds fries, no lie!), and the money denomination is significantly higher.

Now, I mention all this not because I love board games (although I think I do). In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says “there is nothing new under the sun.” It goes back to the circle I mentioned in a previous post. Sure, we have space shuttles now and internet access and billionaires, but when it comes down to it, we’re still the same board game. Just bigger numbers and different names.

And you know Monopoly got boring after awhile.

Just thinking, that’s all.

Why circles suck.

I’ve been thinkin’. This whole month I’ve been studying Ecclesiastes, observing life in general, and picking apart my own life. If you ever want an early mid-mid-life crisis, read Ecclesiastes, ha ha.

A friend and I had a discussion once about circles. She would comment on how everything seems to come around “full circle.” And that didn’t jive with me. Something in my inner most being hated thinking that life and the little circles within life started at point A and will end at point A. I even came up with my own little theory that maybe life is more like an EKG; you start at point A, have a load of ups and downs, but grow, progress, and end at point B. The very fact that we didn’t end up in the same place made my little heart a little happier.

But then I read Ecclesiastes and in the very first chapter, Solomon, the second wisest dude to have ever walked the planet basically said, LIFE IS A CIRCLE. The sun comes up, goes down, comes up. I eat, but ten minutes later I’m hungry again. I get clean and ready so I can get clean and ready the next day. And the next. And the… well, you see why my inner most being hated her “full circle” comment. You end up feeling stuck in a rut. And no one likes a rut.

Solomon is pretty much a Debbie Downer for a good part of Ecclesiastes. “Vanity of vanities!” “Everything is meaningless!” We can dress to impress, reach a fine status quo, work hard, play hard, but what the heck for? You and I, whoever you may be, we’re going to end up in the same place. Dead. Full circle. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, right?

I picture people as little squirrels, gathering up our little nuts like mad, some of us succeeding in making huge, huge piles. And some of us envy those big piles and some of us keep to ourselves, just gathering enough to get by. But then we die, leaving our piles behind, huge and small. That’s it. Rinse, rather, repeat with the next generation, the next batch of nut-gathering animals. Poor little squirrels. Perhaps we’re related to the hamster in the wheel?

Anyway. I kept reading Ecclesiastes and got bummed out. But then I realized that Ecclesiastes wasn’t the end all. Solomon merely asked all the right questions but even with all that wisdom, could not find the right answers.

The answer came later.

There is a way to break out of the neverending circles. There is a way to find meaning in a seemingly meaningless life. There is a way. It’s hope. Hope that there’s something more out there than what’s under the sun. It’s only then when we can start to look outside of the circle, beyond the sun, and learn to truly enjoy life.

Sounds easy enough, right?