I was standing in line at the DMV in Vegas with my friend Jim. In short order, I noticed those in line with us were, forgive me for judging, not of the same socioeconomic status as ourselves. They were mostly illegals and foreign ethnicities, a few fat white people still in their pajamas, and a couple black gangster types are in front of us with their pants down at their knees ( I thought this trend had passed). Looking backward, maybe there were one or two people in the long line that I would have considered peers, maybe! Don’t tell me you’ve never done this!

I began to think, not that they were lower class than myself, but rather “how come things were different for me.” Why was I blessed with financial security and presumably good taste? At first, I was consumed by the classic thought of, “I’m so blessed that Im not like them!” Then I went off on some ethnocentric philosophical tangent. In Montana, it’s harder for me to judge these things about people, I thought. A rancher covered in mud driving a beat-up old truck could own 70,000 acres, so I’m more careful with my thoughts. ‘Don’t judge them, Bob!’ Could it be the same here? Unlikely! Forget the philosophical stuff, I thought!  In the big city, the difference between the have and the have nots is much more noticeable. Much more real!

Now I suppose some of you are saying, “How arrogant of you, Bob!” Or maybe you’re judging me for thinking, they say, “Thou shalt not judge!” Some might even be secretly be hoping that I get mine and lose everything for being so uppity?

Well, I actually hope to disappoint all of you who think such things. My next thought  about these people was actually, “How fortunate THEY must be!” To not have my worries, my responsibilities, and all my stuff to get rid of someday so as to not burden my son by the accumulation of all my junk. The paperwork, the taxes, the estate. Not all people can handle money well. Most, in fact, can not! It’s a burden sometimes, a curse, and the “love of it is the root of all sorts of evil “

So I consider my one percent status, both a gift and a burden. I’m both thankful and concerned that I do not flaunt, abuse, or become a poor steward of what God has so obviously given us. It’s quite humbling. Not so much His gift of money and “stuff.” But rather the intelligence,   the drive, the fortitude – and the so called “luck” to have bought and sold, to have changed professions when I did,  to have married well, to have inherited some, and to have not pissed it all away on frivolous living.

Still, I ask,”Why me, Lord?” Why am I not in line with my pants hung down below my knees, registering that brand new, cool, midnight blue jeep I borrowed money on and cannot afford? (Of course, I’m speculating, but not unrealisticly, right?)

I truly don’t understand why things happen as they do. I’d like to say it is about our upbringing, our environment, our schooling, or “being in the right place at the right time.” I could, wrongly,  even say my worldly success is about my faithfulness, my righteousness, my church attendance, etc.. Because we know, “God blesses those who honor him, right!” I know this happens to some. He raises up some, and some He casts down. In my case, my blessings seem justified if I think about how I learned to work hard on the football field. How focused and disciplined I was in business. But truthfully, in spiritual terms, I disappointed God in so many ways. I’m surprised I’m not in some Siberian prison, beaten every day just for fun.

Yes, one can learn a lot about themselves standing in a Department of Motor Vehicles line – on vacation. Maybe it’s all part of God’s sense of humor? By the way, Jim got his business taken care of in record time. Does this mean Jim is more pious than me? Is it more of God’s humor or another little miracle we will never understand? All I verily know is that I’m thankful for everything!