What Money Can’t Buy
Have you ever considered what you have in life that really matters to you? Chances are what really matters to you is something that money cannot buy.
When I was ten years old my father set fire to the only house we ever owned, just to collect the insurance money. When I got off the school bus that afternoon the ashes were still smoldering.
When I left for school that morning I didn’t know that my father had planned on burning the house while I was away at school. My older brother later told me that the house burned faster than my father anticipated, and there wasn’t any time to remove any of the children’s personal belongings, including our clothes.
But, my first thought when I saw the smoldering ashes wasn’t about my clothes or my personal belongings. I was frightened for the life of my younger siblings who were too young to attend school.
I could see my mother walking around with a stunned look on her face, but I couldn’t see my younger siblings. Thankfully, everyone was fine. No one was hurt.
Looking back on it now, the moment when the school bus approached our house, I felt sick to my stomach.
It’s disgusting that my father deliberately and carelessly burned down the house for the love of money. But the house itself was the last thing on my mind when I first saw that devastating scene.
There are some things money could never buy. The first things you think of are, love, respect, friendships, forgiveness, happiness, and of course, life itself. But, if you think about it hard enough, the list of things money cannot buy is almost infinite.
There is something impossible and magical about the way our world functions that makes money almost irrelevant.
Mother nature, and God’s love. gratuitously hand out precious moments to us free of charge.
As a child I enjoyed swinging on the grapevines in the forest. I loved fishing in streams and rivers. Even today my greatest moments are right here at home, watching the magic of Mother Nature.
Watching hawks fly, or listening to a bird sing are free gifts.
When I finished my tour of duty with the Army, I took a road trip with my brother and a friend to California.
Between the three of us we had only a few hundred dollars. We slept in the station wagon at night and lived mostly off baloney sandwiches during the day.
When we arrived at the Grand Canyon I sat on the edge of a cliff and the only words that I could think of were, “Amen,” “thank you.”
When we arrived in California and watched the sun set over the ocean, words were not powerful enough to describe the moment.
At the Wallace Ranch we have farm animals like goats, sheep, turkeys, chickens, doves, and peacocks.
A few years ago we had three sheep born in one day by the same mother. She rejected them, so we had to stay up all night bottle feeding the lambs.
The thrill of watching new life being born is priceless.
If I had to name only one thing that money cannot buy, I would say it is gratitude. Amen, thank you, magnificent, bravo, and incomprehensible are all words of gratitude.
Amen for the privilege of having the sheer human love and the inner beauty and greatness of just being you.
Bravo for pursuing life to its fullest, no matter how insurmountable the odds.
Thank you for never giving up. How magnificent of you to pursue your dreams and ambitions!
I am grateful that you have the determination and stubbornness to keep showing up every day and doing your part to contribute to the betterment of society.
As a child growing up in poverty, I kept telling myself, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.”
No matter how difficult things got for me back then, I was grateful for the opportunity to participate, to just be there and do my part.
My grandmother once told me that gratitude is a form of prayer. You can’t buy a prayer.
I liked that! I always seem to read the right thing at the right time. Amen to you!