Happy-go-lucky people make good company. They see a laugh in everything and make the best of everything, including traffic jams and queues at supermarket check-outs. Sometimes they are too bright and breezy for words and we should like to hear a voice calling ‘Be serious for once.’ But it’s the long-term effect that can be uplifting – even if we all have to face troubles from time to time and it is not always helpful to have somebody telling us to quit moaning and get on with it.
When the wind I is in the right direction it is hardly possible to be anything but easy-going. But when the wind blows from the north or the east life can become more of a struggle. It may then become apparent that to be happy-go-lucky is possible only because the individual concerned is the child of hard-working parents or has won a lottery. It takes much of the shine out of being happy-go-lucky if it comes at somebody else’s expense.
At this point we have to consider the concept of noblesse oblige. A wealthy person – and we always have to ask where the wealth has come from – feels he has a debt to pay. He has an obligation to make his money serve a useful purpose. That is not to say that he must make his life miserable or frown on any form of enjoyment. He must adopt the classical virtue of being magnanimous. He will not be a spendthrift or a miser. This was recognised before Christianity came into the world and it chimes happily with what might be called Christian priorities.
We don’t know how hard it is for a privileged person to renounce his privileges. Most of us have no such problem to face. We know it doesn’t happen often. But it is common experience to know that generosity is more possible for the prosperous than for the indigent. What is remarkable – and admirable – occurs when a person with little shows generosity on an unexpected scale. See Jesus’s comment on this in Luke 21.1-4.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.
Comentários