A Good and True Story by Paul M. Gould

Author:Paul M. Gould
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Apologetics/Philosophy;Theology;Christianity—Philosophy;Identity (Psychology)—Religious aspects—Christianity;REL067030;REL051000;REL012000
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

Wealth

I felt a bit sheepish as our minivan packed with three generations of Goulds pulled up to the front gate at the Breakers Hotel on Palm Beach Island. Leaning out my window, I asked the guard where I could park. The guard saw through my charade. I clearly didn’t belong. More meekly, I added, “We want to walk the grounds and get a drink.” In that moment, I determined to purchase the family some drinks. Calculating how much money I’d have to drop to buy six Cokes, I thought, What the heck? A small price to taste the good life. The guard reluctantly let us in, directing me to a side lot. We walked the 105-acre resort for about an hour, taking in the beauty, opulence, and sense of privilege that comes with money. Walking back to our car, passing Ferraris, Bentleys, Teslas, and Aston Martins, we laughed, exclaiming as we piled into our ride, “Wow, look at this car—a minivan!” We triumphantly drove away without spending a dime. I couldn’t bring myself to spend $10 on a Coke, so instead we settled for ice cream on the way home.

Reflecting on this little adventure across to “the Island,” I found myself wondering if money really could bring happiness. Everyone seemed happy sipping lattes and reading the Sunday paper on $300 rented pool chairs. Not only did wealth buffer them from the ravages of life; it also allowed them to enjoy the many good things life has to offer. They were self-sufficient, independent, happy creatures, or so it seemed to me.

Boethius would have fit in at the Breakers. I like imagining him as a proud owner of a row of Lamborghinis and Ferraris. But as he sat in that lonely cell, stripped of wealth and possessions, he imagined Lady Philosophy beginning to press him on the connection between money and happiness:

“So first I will ask you a few questions, since you yourself were a wealthy man not long ago. In the midst of all that great store of wealth, was your mind never troubled by worry arising from a feeling that something was wrong?”

“Yes it was,” I replied; “in fact I can’t remember when my mind was ever free from some sort of worry.”. . .

“And so you felt this insufficiency even though you were supplied with wealth?”

“Yes, I did.”

“So that wealth cannot make a man free of want and self-sufficient, though this was the very promise we saw it offering.”7

In the end, money failed Boethius. When he had it, it didn’t fully satisfy. Moreover, being wealthy can create new needs and worries, including dependency on others to maintain and protect the wealth (as witnessed by the many wealth-management companies on Palm Beach Island) and, at least in our day, the guilt that comes with being one of the “haves” in a “have-not” world.8 Money can—and often does—make us more anxious, depressed, and self-centered. According to empirical evidence, the “dark side of the American Dream” is that those who prioritize the pursuit of “‘extrinsic goals’ such as fame, fortune, or glamour .

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