Coveting

About seven in ten respondents in a survey said they strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement: “Having more money would solve most of my problems.” Similar proportions of people in each income bracket felt that way, including those with salaries of $200,000 or more.

Exactly how much more money do we think we need to be happy? A survey from the financial-services company Empower put the question to about 2,000 people.

In the survey, most people said it would take a pretty significant pay bump to deliver contentment. The respondents, who had a median salary of $65,000 a year, said a median of $95,000 would make them happy and less stressed. The highest earners, with a median income of $250,000, gave a median response of $350,000.

Even very wealthy people think like this. A 2018 study asked millionaires to rate their happiness on a scale from one to ten and, if they didn’t say ten, predict how much money they would need to move one point higher. Slightly over half of those with a net worth of $10 million or more said their wealth would need to increase by at least 50%.

When a disaster approaches your home, what do you take when you evacuate? Remember, you can save only what will fit in your car. Millions of Floridians faced that decision as Hurricane Ian bore down on the Gulf Coast in September 2022. The following month, many residents fled Hurricane Nicole. Elsewhere, raging wildfires led local officials to issue evacuation orders in Washington, California, Colorado, and other states in 2022.

One Floridian said, “We’re a family of five with a pet dog. We took several non-electronic games, building blocks for our youngest child, and portable electronics for the teens. We also packed several pairs of clothes per person, toiletries, laundry soap (to minimize incidental expenses), work laptops, the dog’s bed, pet food, and nonrecoverable paper documents.”

A woman from Florida gave the following list: “My husband and I took our five guinea pigs and two cats along with their cages and a litter box. We brought our medications, clothes, pillows, blankets, and some food and sodas. I wish I would have taken my jewelry.”

Another woman wrote: “I didn’t take anything of sentimental value for a few reasons. Being a Navy spouse, I learned long ago to detach myself sentimentally from things (for the most part). Moving fairly often, you have to let go of stuff.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

This would be a good illustration for the Lenten season – what do you need to bring with you in this season of Lent, or what do you need to leave behind? What are your priorities when you are forced to look at your life and possessions realistically?

In late May of 2023, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins formally resigned her position after two federal oversight agencies launched wide-ranging investigations into her behavior. Those investigations concluded that she both lied to investigators and used her position to influence a local election.

Investigators say Rollins leaked information to the media for a story intended to sabotage Kevin Hayden, who was campaigning to replace her as U.S. attorney. The story contained the false accusation that Hayden was under federal investigation himself.

The initial investigations into Rollins’ behavior were sparked after she was seen at a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. This was a significant departure from the agenda of Rollins’ boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who repeatedly ensured that his agency’s top priority would be maintaining political independence. After Rollins was seen at the fundraiser, Garland barred any political appointees from attending fundraisers or other campaign events.

Rollins’ behavior was said to have violated the Hatch Act, a law that curtails political actions by government employees. Violations included an instance where she solicited 30 free tickets to a Boston Celtics game for youth basketball players, including a pair for herself.

According to the inspector general’s office in the Justice Department, Rollins’ behavior was among the “most egregious” in the history of the agency.

Possible Preaching Angle:

God cares about the delivery of justice, and doesn't look kindly on people who abuse their positions of power for personal gain.

With a subway system as lengthy and mysterious as that overseen by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, there are bound to be a few surprises here and there, but investigators were unprepared for what they found in the storage room at Grand Central Terminal below Track 114.

The MTA Inspector General summed it up in a recent statement:

Many a New Yorker has fantasized about kicking back with a cold beer in a prime piece of Manhattan real estate--especially one this close to good transportation … But few would have the chutzpah to commandeer a secret room beneath Grand Central Terminal and make it their very own man-cave, sustained with MTA resources, and maintained at our riders' expense.

Authorities say that three MTA employees, a wireman, a carpenter, and an electrician, had outfitted the room with a futon, a refrigerator, microwave, some exercise equipment, and a large-screen TV, complete with a content-streaming device connected. The room was found after a series of anonymous tips reporting its existence. The three employees have been suspended without pay, pending the results of the investigation. In the interim, MTA officials insist that all of the rooms at Grand Central are under review to ensure their proper utilization.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When people who are commissioned to serve the community end up siphoning off resources for themselves, their selfishness betrays the heart of their mission. God’s people are to act with the highest standards of integrity; otherwise, the mission is compromised.

For those who had time to escape the wildfires in California, the question was what do we grab? As flames barreled toward their homes, devouring block after block, residents had 15 minutes—in some cases, 15 seconds— to grab what they needed.

A musician opted for the violin. A golfer grabbed his clubs. A bride-to-be remembered her dress. Many dived for the practical—toiletries and clothes. Others fumbled though boxes and old photo albums, desperate to save memories.

One woman grabbed diapers, wipes, and clothes for her kids, but nothing for herself. An 82-year-old woman grabbed her walker and—of all things—a hairbrush, but forgot her husband's thyroid medication. As Tonia Whitaker, 31, sat with her kids on a blanket in the corner of the Petaluma Community Center shelter, her voice quivered as she went down a list of things that could currently be in flames: sonograms, her children's first teeth, their umbilical cords, the new bike her older son recently got for his seventh birthday, and all of his unopened presents.

At least one man, 57-year-old Michael Dornbach, died refusing to leave something behind. "I'm not leaving without my truck," Dornbach told his nephew, who begged him to flee without the vehicle.

A clinical psychologist noted: "We're so used to being in control and so used to making decisions all the time. But in situations like these when our lives are reduced to what we can grab in 30 minutes ... and we have to live with the consequences with our decisions under duress, then we question ourselves."

On Tuesday, September 8th, 2015, a British Airways jet caught fire at the Las Vegas airport, sending smoke billowing into the air, after suffering what the pilot described as a "catastrophic failure" of the left engine. The plane—a Boeing 777 heading from the U.S. city's McCarran airport to London Gatwick—could be seen with flames around its fuselage.

The pictures of a burning jetliner in Las Vegas were certainly riveting. But as the plane burst into smoke and flames, some observers saw something even more startling: People stopped during their evacuation to grab their luggage. Authorities are certainly concerned about planes that burst into flames, but they're also worried that we'd risk our lives to grab our carry-on bags.

So what's the big deal with grabbing one carry-on bag? The FAA requires planes to be evacuated within 90 seconds, but as a Chicago-based air traffic controller wrote:

Let's say the average delay time per bag is 5 seconds. This includes the time needed to reach up to open the overhead compartment, pulling the bag down, and the extra delay hauling it through a crowded aisle. If half of the 170 people on board Flight 2276 took the time to take their bag the evacuation would have taken an additional 7 MINUTES longer than necessary. Imagine being the last one to exit the smoke-filled cabin knowing that your one minute evac time is now over 7 minutes!

One veteran pilot with a major U.S. airline said, "We're always shaking our head. It doesn't matter what you say, people are going to do what they do." Or as one blogger summarized this news story: "People love their carry-ons more than life itself."

Possible Preaching Angles: In a moment of crisis many people will chose to risk their lives to save their possessions. This also illustrates the values and self-centeredness of people who put their possessions ahead of the lives of others. What would you risk your life for?

By 30 years old, Sam Polk had made more than $5 million in bonuses alone during eight years working on Wall Street. As a trader, he was living it up in Manhattan by the age of 25. Polk said, "It was an easy thing to go to a World Series game, which for a lot of people was like a dream. [I had] a tremendous feeling of importance and power especially as a 25-year-old kid."

But at the age of 30, he abruptly quit his job on Wall Street. Despite the money Polk had been making, he was still consumed by envy. He went on to work at a hedge fund, and his obsession with money only got worse. In a New York Times op-ed, he wrote:

Now, working elbow to elbow with billionaires, I was a giant fireball of greed. I'd think about how my colleagues could buy Micronesia if they wanted to, or become the mayor of New York City. They didn't just have money; they had power … Senators came to their offices. They were royalty.

Polk describes getting angry over a $3.6 million bonus because it wasn't big enough. He realized that he had what he know calls "a wealth addiction." Polk explained:

I came to realize I had been using money as this thing that would quell all my fears. So I had this belief that maybe someday I would get enough money that I would no longer be scared … I would feel successful. And one of the things I learned on Wall Street was no matter how much money I made, the money was never going to do it.

An article from The Atlantic observed that over the past 100 years we have often turned yesterday's luxury products into today's necessities.

• In 1900, less than 10 percent of families owned a stove, or had access to electricity or phones
• In 1915, less than ten percent of families owned a car
• In 1930, less than ten percent of families owned a refrigerator or clothes washer
• In 1945, less than ten percent of families owned a clothes dryer or air-conditioning In 1960, less than ten percent of families owned a dishwasher or color TV
• In 1975, less than ten percent of families owned a microwave
• In 1990, less than ten percent of families had a cell phone or access to the internet

The article concluded by noting, "Today, at least 90 percent of the country has a stove, electricity, car, fridge, clothes washer, air-conditioning, color TV, microwave, and cell phone. They make our lives better. They might even make us happier. But they are [never] enough."

"Envy is resenting God's goodness to others and ignoring God's goodness to me."

The notion that "the first will be last" doesn't seem to bother some folks. When Apple's revolutionary iPhone hit the market in late June, 2007, it sold for $599. Ten weeks later the price went down to $399—a 33 percent reduction. While many who bought the iPhone at the original price were outraged, others would have paid any price to be among the first to own the new technology.

"If they told me at the outset the iPhone would be $200 cheaper the next day," one customer explained, "I would have thought about it for a second—and still bought it. It was $600, and that was the price I was willing to pay for it."

Early adopters—consumers who purchase new technology as soon as it becomes available—relish the prestige of taking home a new toy before anyone else. Despite the fact that electronics often become more reliable in the second and third generations and retail prices for technology always decrease with time, early adopters are undeterred by the risks. The pleasure of owning a rare product far outweighs the financial sacrifice. In the words of one satisfied iPhone owner, "Even if it works one day, it's worth it."

For many, it's the not the technology itself but the distinction of ownership that's attractive. Such is life in "a land of plenty" that still wants more—and wants it first. We want our neighbors looking over the fence at our gizmos and gadgets. We want someone else to experience the sting of envy. We're no longer satisfied with keeping up with the Joneses. We want to be the Joneses.

It is the desire for God which is the most fundamental appetite of all, and it is an appetite we can never eliminate. We may seek to disown it, but it will not go away. If we deny that it is there, we shall in fact only divert it to some other object or range of objects. And that will mean that we invest some creature or creatures with the full burden of our need for God, a burden which no creature can carry.

—Friar and author Simon Tugwell, The Beatitudes

Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast throughout the last week of August, 2005—destroying buildings, flooding cities, and leaving millions of people homeless. However, the storm's most destructive consequence may have been the unleashing of human nature.

While New Orleans law officials and National Guardsmen concentrated on rescuing survivors, hundreds of looters took to the streets in the days following Katrina's wrath. Initially the looters targeted supermarkets and drug stores, focusing on food, medicine, and diapers. However, these seemingly innocent motives soon turned to greed.

On historic Canal Street, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates protecting clothing and jewelry stores. Many waded through the flooded streets with industrial-sized trashcans full of merchandise, which they floated on makeshift rafts. In Biloxi, Mississippi, people picked through casino slot machines for coins and ransacked other businesses.

Frighteningly, many of the looters made off with weapons. New Orleans' homeland security chief, Terry Ebbert, said looters broke into stores all over town to steal guns, and the Times-Picayune newspaper reported that the gun section at a new Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District was quickly cleaned out.

"The looting is out of control," said French Quarter Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson. "We're using exhausted, scarce police to control looting, when they should be used for search and rescue while we still have people on rooftops."

A USA Today article described the Seattle home and lawn of an elderly man as resembling a junkyard. After many complaints by his neighbors, relatives of the man finally moved the man out of state and sold the house. The new owner discovered the inside of the house was worse than the exterior. Workers removed enough clothes, books, magazines, spoiled food, car parts, tires, and 50-year-old paperwork to fill seven dumpsters.

The article depicted hoarding as a serious problem, and one that some municipalities have addressed by forming task forces. These agencies insure the collaboration of public services in helping people with hoarding tendencies, and in cleaning up their properties.

Hoarding is now considered a symptom of the obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hoarders don't just save stuff, they constantly acquire new stuff —to the extent that it interferes with everyday life and safety. The weight of possessions buckles the floors of their houses. Overflowing piles threaten, and sometimes do, bury the residents alive. Rotting food draws insects and rodents. Combustible materials ignite to destroy buildings and sometimes kill the occupants.

According to Randy Frost, a psychology professor at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, 2 to 3 percent of the population has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and up to a third of those exhibit hoarding behavior.

Sadly, Frost admits that even when a hoarder's home is cleaned up, the hoarding behavior usually begins again almost immediately. The person involved in the self-destructive behavior will not change until they themselves decide to take responsibility.

Born into a small house crammed with lots of people, professional basketball player Scottie Pippen didn't have much as a boy. But his journey into the NBA changed all that. From 1999 through 2002, his contract promised him at least $14.7 million a year—not to mention income from endorsements. He already owns a 74-foot yacht and a $100,000 Mercedes.

But that doesn't shield anyone from the negative effects of comparing ourselves to others. A Sports Illustrated feature said: "Before every game in Portland's Rose Garden, Pippen lets his gaze drift over to the courtside seat occupied by Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and owner of both the Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, a man with a personal net worth of $40 billionâ¦. 'What does he have?' Pippen asks. 'Forty billion? How can I make just one billion? I just want one of them! What do I need to do?'"

Psychologists are studying what makes people happy. "Materialism is toxic for happiness," says University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener. Even rich materialists aren't as happy as those who care less about getting and spending. The article also quoted University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson, who indicated forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to happiness. Peterson said, "It's the queen of all virtues, and probably the hardest to come by."

If Danny Simpson had known more about guns, he might not have needed to rob the bank. But in 1990, in Ottawa, Canada, this 24-year-old went to jail, and his gun went to a museum. He was arrested for robbing a bank of $6,000 and then sent to jail for six years. He had used a .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic, which turned out to be an antique made by the Ross Rifle Company, Quebec City, in 1918.

The pistol is worth up to $100,000—much more than Danny Simpson had stolen. If he had just known what he carried in his hand, he wouldn't have robbed the bank.

In other words, Danny already had what he needed.

There is an ancient tale about two people, one of whom was envious of the other. The envious person was once given an opportunity to ask a favor from the king, with the proviso that his rival would get twice as much of whatever he requested. This put the envious person in a difficult position. After much consideration, he asked that one of his eyes be plucked out.