We’ve Moved

This blog has now moved.  You can find it at:

http://expatblog.richardisaacs.net

Please visit this blog at that address.  Eventually, the site here at WordPress will be removed.  Thank you.

-Richard Isaacs

If I Only Had More Money, Most of My Problems Would Be Solved…

Many of us think that the majority of our problems stem from financial issues – more specifically a financial shortfall.  We think that if we only had a better paying job or could win the lottery, things would just work themselves out.  Unfortunately, this is not true.  You can read many stories about people who have won the lottery, received an inheritance, or received some other financial windfall and you will discover that they often have greater problems or they “run through” the money and suddenly find themselves back in the same place they were in before they came into possession of more money.  Money is not the answer to the eternal questions we need answers for.

Lets look at some individual cases from the historical record to demonstrate what I am talking about:

The year is 1923.  Some of the world’s most successful financiers met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago.  From a financial perspective, these men were “on top of the world” – they were rich beyond our greatest dreams and certainly could get anything money could buy.  Here are their names and the position each one held:

1.  Charles Schwab – president of the largest steel company.

2.  Samuel Insull – president of the largest electric utility company.

3.  Howard Hopson – president of the largest gas company.

4.  Arthur Cutten – the greatest wheat speculator.

5.  Richard Whitney – president of the New York Stock Exchange.

6.  Albert Fall – Secretary of the Interior in President Harding‘s Cabinet.

7.  Jesse Livermore – known as the greatest “bear” on Wall Street.

8.  Ivar Kreuger – the head of the world’s greatest monopoly.

9.  Leon Fraser – President of the Bank of International Settlements.

You have to admit that this is an impressive group of “movers and shakers.”  Probably any one of us would like to be in any of the positions of these powerful men.  These were men who controlled the now and shaped the future – men of power, influence and tremendous wealth.  They had reached the pinnacle of success in life.  They had “arrived.”

Before you become too enamored and decide you would like to trade positions with one of these men, let’s look at the picture 25 years later – in 1948:

1.  Charles Schwab – Had been forced into bankruptcy and lived the last five years of his life on borrowed money.

2.  Samuel Insull – was a fugitive from justice who died penniless in a foreign land.

3.  Howard Hopson – was insane.

4.  Arthur Cutten – became insolvent and died abroad.

5.  Richard Whitney – was just released from Sing Sing prison.

6.  Albert Fall – terminally ill and had been pardoned from prison so he could die at home – broke.

7.  Jesse Livermore – committed suicide.

8.  Ivar Kreuger – committed suicide.

9.  Leon Fraser – committed suicide.

If the fate of each of these men doesn’t make you rethink the idea that money and influence are the solution, it should.  Proverbs 18:11 says, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.”  Notice it says they “imagine” it an unscalable wall.  Wealth, however, is no guarantee of anything.

The book of Ecclesiastes has much to say about the vanity of trusting in wealth.  One verse in particular is noted here:  “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income”  (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, of course, you have some people to whom money means nothing.  They fail to provide for their own and their family goes without (I am not talking about those who don’t have the ability here, but those who have the ability and choose not to provide).  Somewhere between each of these extremes there is a place of balance.  I can’t tell you what that place is for you but I do know that we can’t get along in this current world without money and we also can’t depend on money to save us or solve all our problems.

Jesus spoke quite a bit about money and our relationship to it.  Here is what He said in the Gospel of Matthew when preaching the sermon on the mount:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 7:19-21)

Jesus also went on to say this in that same chapter:

“No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.”  (Matthew 7:24)

Money is neutral in and of itself.  It is not good or bad.  It is our motives and desires that make money a good thing or a bad thing.  Money is a tool.  However, like anything else, whether it is a car, a firearm, or whatever you choose to place here, it can be used for good or evil.  Money is not the problem – it is our choices regarding regarding money.  In other words, our wallets are not the issue, but our hearts.

The question we should be asking ourselves is this:  Who or what do I serve?  Who or what am I devoted to?  We should always be checking our motives while lying prostrate at the foot of the cross – remembering the price that was paid for our redemption.  A price that was paid at an immeasurable cost that money can’t begin to touch.

Silly Thought for the Day

Three Questions:

1.)  Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?

2.) If they did – Why?

3.) If they didn’t – Where did they put the salt when they ate veggies in bed at night?

Some people say they had belly buttons and some say no.  Adam was created from the dust of the earth and therefore never had a mother – hence no need for an umbilical cord.  Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs and never had a mother – hence no need for an umbilical cord.

If they did have belly buttons, then why did they?  Since they each had no mother, there was no need for an umbilical cord since they were both never in the womb relying on that cord for sustenance to keep their life going.  But some might argue that they needed the belly button since they were perfect prototypes of all of us who came later.

Personally, I think they didn’t have belly buttons.  There was no reason to have them so they weren’t there.  This brings us to the most important theological question for today.  Where did they put their salt when they ate veggies in bed at night?  Or where did they keep the ranch dressing if that’s what you prefer?  This is what I use my navel for and I have found that it is a great part of God‘s design for creation – if you have an innie that is – not so great an idea if you have an outie as all the salt or dressing tends to run down your sides and onto the bed sheets.

So, what do you think?  Yes or no on the belly button for our ancient parents?

You may think this is stupid and doesn’t really matter.  I agree that in the grand scheme of eternal significance, this is probably unimportant.  But………..I bet when you get to  heaven and finally meet the real Adam and Eve, you are going to be curious.  I’m not sure if they will still be wearing fig leaves, but I bet a part of you keeps trying to get just the right angle to catch a glimpse of the belly button area.  Or maybe you will be bold enough to ask.  I don’t know.  All I can tell you for sure is that if you get to heaven and you meet them, you will remember this blog and you’ll be curious.

Have a great day and God bless.

Light Shining Out of Darkness by William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour:
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

This poem by Cowper is one that I have always enjoyed reading. Just thought I would share it.

College Admission Essay

This is an actual essay written by a college applicant. The author, Hugh Gallagher, was admitted to NYU. 

Essay: In order for the admissions staff of our college to get to know you, the applicant, better, we ask that you answer the following question: Are there any significant experiences you have had, or accomplishments you have realized, that have helped to define you as a person?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer, I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago, I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.

Shooting Bears With Umbrellas

A ninety-year-old man went to the doctor and said, “Doctor, my eighteen-year-old wife is expecting a baby.”

The doctor said, “Let me tell you a story.  A man went hunting, but instead of a gun, he picked up an umbrella by mistake.  When a bear suddenly charged at the man, he picked up the umbrella , shot the bear, and killed it.”

The man said, “Impossible.  Someone else must have shot that bear.”

The doctor said, “My point exactly!”

Why the Weatherman Can’t Get it Right

It was autumn, and the Indians on the reservation asked their new chief if it was going to be a cold winter.  Raised in the ways of the modern world, the chief had never been taught the old secrets and had no way of knowing whether the winter would be cold or mild.  To be on the safe side, he advised the tribe to collect wood and be prepared for a cold winter.  A few days later, as a practical afterthought, he called the National Weather Service and asked whether they were forecasting a cold winter.  The meteorologist replied that, indeed, he thought the winter would be quite cold.  The chief advised the tribe to stock even more wood.

A couple of weeks later, the chief checked in again with the Weather Service.  “Does it still look like a cold winter?” asked the chief.

“It sure does,” replied the meteorologist.  “It looks like a very cold winter.”  The chief advised the tribe to gather up every scrap of wood they could find.

A couple of weeks later, the chief called the Weather Service again and asked how the winter was looking at that point. The meteorologist said, “We’re now forecasting that it will be one of the coldest winters on record!”

“Really?” said the chief.  “How can you be so sure?”

The meteorologist replied, “The Indians are collecting wood like crazy!”

We Didn’t Have the Green Thing Back in Our Day

In the checkout line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment.”

He was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn’t have the green thing back then.