I worked long and hard this summer. More than I had wanted. In fact, I didn’t get a vacation or much of a break to join with friends in fun and recreation. You know what that is? That’s a rich person’s problem.
The very concept of a vacation is unknown to most of the world even today. I don’t struggle on a day-to-day basis to find food. That makes me rich. I get up from a comfy bed in a home with a roof where I sleep in safety. That makes me rich. I have a choice in what I am going to wear to work. A choice in what I’m going to eat for breakfast. That makes me rich. I drive to work. That makes me ultra rich. My office has air conditioning and safe working conditions. That makes me rich. I could go on. But my point is that I have choices above and beyond mere survival, which put me in a sphere of privilege not enjoyed by most people.
The choices that I’ve described above are between luxuries. But those decisions feel normal to me, and if you are reading this on a computer, they are normal to you, too. What I fail to grasp sometimes is how abnormal those choices really are. To the vast majority of the world, it’s unknown. Their struggle is with survival issues, much like those who lived in Biblical times.
We are an aberration, a miniscule slice of humanity. And it’s not just our wealth that sets us apart. Lois Tverberg has written a great article about how different our western culture really is. Not just different, but WEIRD. Check out her post and find out why. And why it matters to see those differences as we read the Bible.
Oh, and by the way, this month I’m going on vacation - acutely aware of my abundance and striving to be grateful every day.
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