The Gimcrack Miscellany

What Would You Do If You Were Rich?

Posted on 22. Feb, 2011 by The Gimcracker in Gimcrackery, News, Theory & Philosophy

This is probably one of the most popular questions people ask themselves. Well, this and: “should I have another volcano Taco?” The answer to that one’s obvious. But the answer to the former is not so simple, is it? There are a few wise people who answer “I wouldn’t want to be rich.” But for the rest of us, the answer usually consists of a few big ticket material items right off the bat, some aspect of saving or investing, and in a lot of cases, charity. Charity, either because of a true desire to be charitable (in which case the answerer probably already is a charitable person), or because simply having a lot of money seems to bring along a level of guilt (in which case the answerer probably lacks somewhat in the area of charitabilityness).

I, for one, would love to be rich. Being able to partake in the finer things would be awesome. Five-star restaurants. No more broken down cars. Someone else to do my house repairs. A personal trainer to equal out my increase of Volcano Taco consumption. Oh that’d be so grand. However, that stuff would very quickly become boring, I’m sure. So, I’d like to think that I could do something more meaningful with my newfound financial responsibility, such as giving it away, starting my own charity, helping widows & orphans, and spreading the Gospel. You know, Bible stuff. Christian stuff. The trouble is, I don’t really do much of that now, so what makes me think I would increase those activities just because I had more money? More money would probably equal more distractions and stress, which would in all likelihood decrease those activities.

Well, here’s a great example of a few people that did what I’d like to think I would do. And by the way, they were just killed a few hours ago in the pirate-infested waters of Somalia.

According to this news article I read today, four Americans traveling around the world on a Yacht were captured and executed by Somali pirates. Apparently, there was a skirmish aboard the pirate ship when the U.S. military got involved. Unfortunately, they were not able to save the four hostages:

The officials said U.S. military personnel boarded the yacht and discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors.

The officials said two pirates were killed and 13 others captured after a brief gun battle as U.S. forces took control of the boat.

What you don’t find out until most of the way through the article, is that the people were traveling around the world trying to spread the Gospel. I doubt the people were executed because of their faith, but they still died doing the most important thing in their lives:

Scott Adam, who was in his mid-60s, wanted to combine his love of adventure with his faith by spreading Bibles around the world, Professor Robert K. Johnston, of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, said Sunday.

“He was sailing around the world and serving God, two of his passions,” Johnston said.

He said that despite an adventurous spirit, the Adams were meticulous planners who knew the dangers they faced.

Now, I have no idea what kind of people they were. However, I love this story (as tragic as it is) because here is an example of someone who has a lot of money and decided to enjoy their money while serving God. The could have given it all away, but they chose to go on an adventure. I’m not saying you should do the same thing with your money if you were rich. Some are called to give it all away, and others are called to use it as a tool. I think it depends on what type of person you are. My point here is that I respect people who live their lives for God, but I really respect these people for living their lives for God, know what I mean? Good work.