There is a lot of talk right now about investments. We are 'investing' in education. We are 'investing' in gold. We are 'investing' in our own Social Security retirement funds. We are 'investing' in things we may not actually want with money we do not have to impress people we do not like. Why do we so willingly accept and delude ourselves that some intellectual elite in a distant capital knows better than we do?
Last night, I watched for the first time the movie "Chariots of Fire" about Britain's olympic triumph in 1924 over the United States. In that movie, Eric Liddle, masterful runner from Scotland, stands up to the future King of Britain when he tries to press Liddle to run against his religious beliefs. The irony is that, in the aftermath, Liddle proved prescient. Thanks to another member of the UK team, a Lord whose name I forget, England won medals in both events where it lost them in the others. What does the king know? What does the coach know? All we know is that the story seems to prove that God honors those who first honor Him, just as US runner Scholz pens in a note to Liddle before his 400m heat.
Liddle tells the king something that I found completely amazing. God makes nations, and God makes the rules by which to rule those nations, one of which is that the sabbath is His. Yet, the king, like our rulers in America, want us to trust in men over God. Despite what seems to be widespread and utter contempt for politicians we surrender our property to them for things that are not in our best interest just on their word that it's for a good purpose. Even as they say that, they cut the military and NASA, which actually do bring returns on the investment. Think of all the ways your life is better because of the research and development done by those two organizations. Meanwhile, there's always enough money for the EPA, the USPS, the department of commerce (most of which goes to the national weather service), etc., run by some people who have proven to be the stupidest people on the earth. We do not render to God what is His. We render it to Caesar and hope God will respect us for honoring that lesser law.
We place too much trust in lawyers because we believe they know the law. Why is it that they know better than you do? Who knows but that you will be the next Rembrant, Einstein, Edison, More, or Jefferson? If we continue to let people shout us down and play us down, we run the risk of not meeting the next generation of movers and shakers. Even one of the runners in Chariots of Fire, Harold Abrahams, dresses down the leadership at Cambridge University when they try to hold him back, telling them he will make his own way, and he won against the two fastest men in the world. You have no idea how far you might go until you try.
Frequently, we reap little from our investments because we put little into them. Too many among us are interested in short-term gains and quick returns over really wise investments. The UK running team invested a lot into their work, and they reaped accordingly. You can't just 'buy gold' and expect that to be a panacea. Sure, it has always been worth something to someone; I have also found that when everyone's doing it, it's usually a bad thing. There may be someone who depends on you being different. Like Liddle says, God made you for a purpose, and when you do that, you will feel His pleasure and find a return, whatever form that return on your mutual investment might take.
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