How Rich Are You?

How Rich Are You?

Luke chapter 12

13 And one out of the multitude said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me. 14 But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

2023 has been an angst filled year for almost everybody I’ve encountered. Is that because I’m old? Is it because more of us are about to turn 65 than ever before? Experts who track such things say that in 2024 more Americans will turn 65 than ever before. Maybe that’s got something to do with it.

Daily conversations seem focused on income, saving, investing, spending, and acquiring. Some are focused on preparing for a better relationship, but with a focus on financially being in a better place that may foster more success with that relationship. All with some goal in mind. For some, it’s a quest for a more grand lifestyle, but for most, it’s something more…different. It’s a desire move. To start a new, different career. To find or deepen a relationship.

Little doubt that income, saving, investing and spending are big, big topics for all of us.

For some, they’re all encompassing because of the importance placed on them.

For others, they’re important and assume a prominent place because of the impact they seem to have on just about everything in our lives.

For some, they’re more practical. These are matters are a means to an end. But even then, they can sometimes bubble to the top of the food chain because our world is so focused on them.

How rich are you?

How do you define rich?

Health. Does that factor into the equation? Are you doing anything to give yourself an advantage with your health?

Love. Is that part of the math? How do you measure it? Who is the object of your love? What are you doing to be more lovable? What you doing to give more love?

God. Is He part of the formula? Is He an overthought? Is He even a thought at all?

we die at 100 and enter Eternity

Suppose to live to be 100, then you die. What do you think happens next? Do you think that’s it, that’s all. It’s over? Or do you think you will continue to live in another realm, a new dimension you’ve not yet experienced?

Compared to eternity a single century isn’t even a blip on a radar. It’s a single grain on sand on every beach on earth. But in this moment, it seems as though it’s all that matters. That’s how the rich farmer viewed life in that parable. He was wrong. Wrong for being too focused on accumulating weath. Wrong for thinking he had enough time to relax and enjoy himself. Deadly wrong in leaving God out of his plans for becoming rich. We don’t want to make that same mistake.

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Randy Cantrell

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Figuring Ourselves Out, Making Sense Of It All (or some part of it)

Figuring Ourselves Out, Making Sense Of It All (or some part of it)

Makes No Sense

Figuring it out.

That’s the point of today’s show. Come to think of it…that’s the point of every episode.

What are you most curious about? What would you most like to understand? Let’s scatter shoot and consider some things. We’ll see where it takes us.

Here are just a few things we’ll talk about.

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Randy Cantrell

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I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
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To help, click the link (or the image below) to donate
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How Do You Stack Up Financially?

How Do You Stack Up Financially?

HGTV meme

 

Finances are a big deal. The smaller your income, the bigger the deal. 😉

Let’s talk about a few important things:

• The 3 steps to financial “know-how” = 1) know where you are, 2) know where you want to go and 3) figure out how to get there
• The power of comparing ourselves against one another (it’s a negative power)
• A heavy dose of commentary along the way (and humor, too)
Randy Cantrell

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Help Me Reach My $1,000 Goal

I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
The scenery will make for a great backdrop. Plus, there are many places I’d like you to see.
To help, click the link (or the image below) to donate
B&H Photo E-Gift Cards (use RandyCantrell [at] gmail [dot] com).
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What Is Your Stuff Costing You?

What Is Your Stuff Costing You?

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Matt D’Avella is a minimalist. He’s also a photographer and film maker. He directed the documentary, MINIMALISM featuring The Minimalists, described in Wikipedia as “The Minimalists are American authors, podcasters, filmmakers, and public speakers Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who promote a minimalist lifestyle.”

My first exposure to this notion of minimalism was reading a blog by Leo Babauta, Zen Habits. I was reading Leo’s stuff about productivity. He was living in Guam with wife and kids and life didn’t seem all that ideal, but somewhere along the way Leo started questioning his lifestyle, including smoking. He began to shift his content into taking better care of himself. That included reducing clutter and things in his life that no longer made sense to him. Prior to his writing, I’d never heard the term “minimalism.”

The lifelong best friends – The Minimalists – took the lifestyle to a whole new level with their content. Somewhere along the way entered a guy named Joshua Becker, On Becoming Minimalist. Then Matt came along. I’ve followed all of them from their beginnings even though I didn’t adhere to the life they were evangelizing. This all goes back to at least 2010 so I clearly wasted a whole bunch of time, but life gets in the way. For all of us. But that’s no excuse!

Part of this movement is steeped in revolution. A revolution against consumerism, sales and marketing, consumption and perhaps capitalism itself. But as a guy who has followed this movement since the beginning, it mostly seems steeped in questioning, “What do I value? What do I value most?” That’s why I continue to follow it more closely than probably any other thing I’ve followed in the past decade. And I’m not coming from a place of sustainability, being green, being eco-friendly, reducing our carbon footprint or some other viewpoint focused on a doomsday perspective.

The documentary shows 2 friends – The Minimalists – who came to this lifestyle through their own independent, yet congruent, paths. Success. Pursuing bigger money and more things. Broken relationships. Short-term pleasure that seemed to only result in longer-term pain, or void.

I’ve personally found the principles espoused by all of these creators based on a pursuit much like mine here at Leaning Toward Wisdom. Growth, improvement, figuring it out and doing it better. Wiser.

That’s why you find all of them talking about things like living with less, eliminating debt, ditching the clutter, contentment, going small, enjoying more freedom, deepening relationships, refusing to be slaves to things. I know their message doesn’t resonate with everybody, but I’ve watched the movement grow exponentially in the past 10-15 years. And it’s not lost on me, as pointed out in the documentary, that is about the time we were just trying to come out of the 2008 crash when this movement began. I’m certain that event had something to do with the discontentment of many people, compelling the question, “What are we doing?”

Questions are good. Questioning ourselves is wise. Well, to be more accurate…answering the questions we ask of ourselves is. For example, we hear this question frequently: “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Funny how rarely we ever hear an answer though. That’s where the profit is – in the answer.

What are we buying?

Why?

There are other worthwhile questions.

Do we need it?

What’s the utility of it?

Can we do without it?

If we forego buying it, what will we really be missing – if anything?

Since buying a new house and making two moves simultaneously – and juggling two living locations – we’ve experienced greater spending than ever. This is an unprecedented experience for us because we’ve never done anything like this. The spending hasn’t been impulsive or frivolous though. And the overwhelming majority of the expenditures have been in things that will enhance life, enhance enjoyment and last years. Go back to the previous episodes if you’re interested in more about all that.

It also speaks to how far from embracing minimalism we are. 😀

But I never claimed to be converting to the minimalism lifestyle. That’s why some years ago I termed my yearning to declutter and simplify as “practical minimalism.” I know that’s subjective, but people understand it. It’s a focus on less stuff while putting pressure on purchases to fulfill some purpose other than “I want that.”

Shopaholic entered our language in 1983. It means a person addicted to shopping. The implication that people chase feeling better by buying stuff – not just shopping without buying. While the minimalism movement has a heavy focus on stuff – possessions – it has many underlying focuses that deal with our mental state, our emotions, what drives us and much more.

Minimalism attempts to answer the question of fulfillment and purpose. It does that through espousing the notion that our stuff doesn’t define us. The quest for more won’t fill us up.

I’m a Christian so much of what the movement chases I found long ago. Purpose and priority are settled for me. To honor God by submitting to His authority. You won’t hear that in the minimalist movement. I’ve never heard it and I’ve followed this crowd from the beginning. Truth is, many of them are self-described Stoics (stoicism).

As a Christian I know stuff isn’t where my priorities should be. The Bible clearly teaches that the pursuit of temporary things is vanity while the pursuit of spiritual things (eternal things) is wisdom. And because I’ve only experienced this realm so far, I necessarily have to rely on God, who is Eternal and the supreme spirit for guidance. The Bible tells us He is a spirit and our worship to Him must be in truth and in spirit. Now, I’m painfully aware that people don’t think there is any truth, much less that the Bible is that truth – even though the scripture declares itself to be true.

So when the whole minimalism movement waxes philosophical about our purpose and why we’re here and how we exist – I’m out because those questions have been answered for me by the Creator of the Universe, God Jehovah. I don’t need to listen to some folks who preach a message of how we don’t need to clutter our lives with more stuff to fill whatever void may exist in our lives.

The Void

I don’t doubt the void for a second. Billions of people likely feel it. Nor do I doubt my own capacity to fill something in my life incorrectly. That is, selfishness can overtake any of us – and it does. Sometimes. Or a whole lot of the time. Or all the time.

A goal. It’s missing in people who aimlessly roam.

No goal. No mission.

It’s a recipe for a wasted life. Too many people are driven by their circumstances. When we acquiesce our outcome things go south quickly.

There are complexities to “the void.” I propose that God is THE primary fulfillment of that void because He created us. He knows…and He knows best. That doesn’t mean we go about our daily lives, Bible in hand, condemning the world. It means we’re a light. We’re leading by example in our daily lives that integrity, doing the right thing, treating others well, serving and loving each other is the path forward – the filling of the void. Then come all the little details of our lives. What we do to earn a living? What we do with our time? How we choose to pursue accomplishing things? Who we choose to surround us? And countless other things that constitute our lives.

Mostly, it means we take full responsibility for our lives – and whatever outcomes go along with it. That’s where I find the practice of minimalism helpful. It’s a discipline of responsibility. Individual responsibility where culture and others don’t impose on us any notion of fulfillment and happiness in material possessions. That component of the practice is congruent with Christianity, which always places the focus on eternal over earthly, spiritual over material.

Self-Discipline Works

No self-discipline also works, but you don’t want that paycheck.

I view practical minimalism as an act of self-discipline. The closer scrutiny of stuff. It’s an act of self-control.

Control over spending.

Control over possessing.

Control over shopping.

Control over covetousness.

Control over desire.

Control over want.

Control over priorities.

Control over indulgence.

You can check out a few of my audio sermons at InThyPaths.com or watch a much more talented preacher at LetTheBibleSpeak.tv.

Here’s a sermon about gambling, for those who may be interested.

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Randy Cantrell

Please tell a friend about the podcast!

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Help Me Reach My $1,000 Goal

I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
The scenery will make for a great backdrop. Plus, there are many places I’d like you to see.
To help, click the link (or the image below) to donate
B&H Photo E-Gift Cards (use RandyCantrell [at] gmail [dot] com).
Thank you!

You Can Support Me

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Spending, Saving & Investing: The Tale of Two Houses

Spending, Saving & Investing: The Tale of Two Houses

Back in May I published a podcast episode entitled Spending Control: How’s That Working Out For You?

A recent move required all kinds of seemingly extraneous spending. Okay, maybe not extraneous, but aggravatingly excessive from what I wanted. There’s moving, truck rentals, fuel, boxes, landscaping, appliances, window coverings, blah, blah, blah.

Well, I’m currently embarking on getting The Yellow Studio version 4.0 assembled. And with two residences there are just some costs that can’t be helped, along with a few that could be helped…but we’re trying to be strategic about it. For instance, we’ve got some furniture at place A and some furniture at place B. When family visits place B we need some things – like a place to sleep for one or more kids – that we may not need when place A and place B morph more into a singular place. Even though we’re going to keep a place A and a place B they’re not forever going to look like they do now. We knew for a year or so we’d kinda sorta be scrambling, but being a bit of a spreadsheet nerd I can report that we’ve not spent all that much money in redundant items. But still – there are days when it feels like I just want to cut up the credit cards, unplug from the Internet and see if we can go 6 months without buying anything!

I’ve spent about $400 in clothing, including some new shoes, shirts and pants. I’ve spent about that much in the past 6 years total, not including buying winter beanies on sale (I got quite a few $20-30 beanies for $5 a piece once the winter weather went away). I don’t budget $100 a year for clothing. Gone are the days of buying suits on sale. Or dress shirts. And ties.

A few hundred bucks on things like vacuum cleaner, mops, brooms.

A few hundred bucks on step ladders and a bigger ladder (for cleaning gutters out).

About $500 on things like a leaf blower, water hose, a nice (world-class) nozzle, a rake, etc.

A few hundred bucks on some outdoor back patio furniture, but it’s made of that fancy polywood which doesn’t fade, crack or deteriorate.

On and on it goes – a few hundred bucks here, a few hundred there. Pretty soon, it starts to add up.

Now, we’re not spending money we don’t have, but that doesn’t lessen the pain of it. We’re not trying to burn through it as fast as we can. We’re just finding ourselves needing some things in place B and some things in place A. And some things we need in both places.

The big ticket stuff has been (in this order): appliances (refrigerator, washer and dryer), landscaping at place B and minor construction work for Rhonda’s sewing space and The Yellow Studio 4.0. These involved a few thousand dollars each. But the ROI (return on investment) for these is also among the highest because these things are all long term benefits. We won’t likely need to replace any of the appliances within the next 10 years or more. Rhonda’s sewing room mods and my studio mods are going to last longer than 10 years.

We’ve spent about $1000 on fixtures/furniture for her sewing room and The Yellow Studio v4.0. We’ve likely got another few hundred bucks to go to finish both spaces out. Again, these are long lasting items that we’ll certainly get our use out of.

Let’s talk about these 3 activities and see what we can learn from our foolishness – and wisdom.

Randy Cantrell

Please tell a friend about the podcast!

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Help Me Reach My $1,000 Goal

I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
The scenery will make for a great backdrop. Plus, there are many places I’d like you to see.
To help, click the link (or the image below) to donate
B&H Photo E-Gift Cards (use RandyCantrell [at] gmail [dot] com).
Thank you!

You Can Support Me

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