That was a line straight out of our pastor’s mouth last month. I can’t remember much of the sermon right now (or the reason why it’s just decided to pop back into the mind all of a sudden), but I’m pretty sure the moral was to NOT obsess about sex, money, and cars :)

Catholicism aside, I’ll have to agree. Not getting caught up is great for both the mind and the wallet, it’s just hard to do sometimes. The media wants us all decked out in the latest fashion, sportin’ that bling and glamourizing us up all so they can make an extra buck or two. And for the most part we fall for it! Well, “we” as your average American consumer, not you and I because we know better. Or at least we’re trying.

The one line I do recall from the sermon, however, was his point that all these new obsessions are a luxury of ours. Not the items or acts themselves, but just the way in which we THINK and fawn over them. Hundreds of years ago people weren’t lusting over diamond earrings or the latest model corvette, but rather food. Plain ol’ rice and beans and whatever else people ate back then :) Sure there were richies who could still buy their way to exorbitance – extra mules, furs, buffets of fruit – but for the most part people yearned for a week worth’s of food or clean water to drink. Those were the real necessities back in the day, and people craved them.

Times have surely changed since then, and I’m incredibly grateful they have!, but it’s something to keep in mind the next time your wants start overcrowding your needs. It’s quite alright to dream about winning the lottery or scoring with the Girls Next Door every now and then (Lord knows we all do it), but just make sure you snap back to reality and be happy with what you’ve got. You’ve worked hard to get where you are, so be proud and rejoice! You can have all the sex and the money and the cars when you fall asleep tonight.