Psalm Studios
David Robinson With another word of faith.
Psalm Studios
The Rich Life Part 1
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Have you ever felt like a fish out of water? You know the sort of thing I mean. You're born in a terraced house, you're invited to a party with people who would use your home as a garage or a skip. You put on your best suit, step into your Ford Fiesta, and roll up the front door, feeling ready to go home again. Your mind races, thinking of excuses that you could make if things got too uncomfortable for you. So you step inside, greeting smile with smile, handshake with limp hampshake, polite words matching polite words and seeking a face that you can recognize as a friend and zero in on. Today's society shuns class distinction, and yet this form of bigotry is very much alive at all levels. It's not that anyone is better than anyone else in the sight of almighty God, it's just that we live in a caste system which is more mind than real. I like a lot of people come from a broken home, dysfunctional, they call it today, a big word for broken hearts and hurting kids. My dad left Mum to fend for herself and six children at the time, when abandoned women were frowned upon. He went to England to seek his fortune, and he'd never come back. He sought the rich life and left behind poverty and want. I'm not bitter, by the way, indeed in some ways our lives were left untouched by his departure. We were blessed as kids with a mother who more than made up for the empty chair on Christmas Day. Birthdays found Mum being mum and dad all rolled into one, switching roles seamlessly in her desire to make us all feel very special. Years drifted by and like most young people we all wanted to be somebody's. Me? I just wanted to be top of the heap. I wanted to taste the rich life. I desired to show Mum that she had done a great job. Did I get there? Well, in some ways I did. I got to the top of the heap in my profession, at least as close as I wanted to go. I tasted of the rich life, spent time in the best of hotels, drank the finest wines and ate the best food, but something was always missing. I started my own business and made more money, enough to buy our home outright and a small holding. But while I was rich in material things, something was seriously lacking. I discovered that being able to meet the bills did not meet all my needs. I realized that two cars and loads of nice things didn't fill the real void in my heart. You see, folks, material things either rust or get holes, or if they're made of bricks someday, s some storm will blow them away. Storm number one in my life came when my mum died of cancer. Three years of sickness and pain took a dreadful toll on her body, until one day she just finally gave up. I remember saying to the specialist when he passed his diagnosis, whatever it takes make my mum well. If it's money, better treatment, I'll pay for it. The look on his face told me the answer. All my resources were never going to be enough. They were useless. No amount of money could make my mum live. Storm number two was many years later, when I was seriously injured in an accident. The prognosis from the doctor was six months late up and another six months of therapy before I could return to work. At this stage in my growing career, I had ten men working for me, the business was booming, and things could not get better. But here I was. Desperation became my master, thoughts of a drowning business and loss of everything began to crush me. So what now of money or a well healed ego? Where the strength that once boasted I could make it on my own. The famous singer Frank Shenatra once sang a song entitled I Did It My Way. Yet with all his millions, when sickness touched his body, he found his way was like a bucket of water with holes. It didn't hold water.
