Imagine for a moment that you were fabulously wealthy. You had more money than you could spend in five lifetimes. Consequently, you could buy anything your heart desired. Imagine as well that your favorite movie of all time was “The Wizard of Oz”. How much would you pay to be able to own the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in that movie? How about $666,000? Believe it or not, that’s what someone paid to buy them. As disturbing as that might be, it’s only one example of what people spend to own memorabilia of famous people. Here’s a list of a few examples. 1) $1,267,500 for the dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang happy birthday to President Kennedy. 2) $14,740 for John Lennon’s toilet. 3) $1,900 for Madonna’s underwear. 4) $40,668 for Justin Bieber’s locks after a haircut. 5) $20,025 for Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s sweatshirt and
sunglasses. I must admit that I do not understand what seems to me to be a truly sinful waste of money. It would be interesting to see how much the people who bought these things give to charity each year. Just think how many people in the third world could be fed for $1,267,500. Maybe those who purchased these items give generously to the poor and support all kinds of worthwhile causes. I hope so, because spending money on those sorts of things seems to me to be indicative of a society that has lost perspective, a culture that is rushing headlong toward ruin. I don’t believe that God laughs at such things and I wonder what He will say when those people stand before Him? What will He say to us when we have to give an accounting of how we have used the gifts He has given to us?
