LIFE ANGLES: Thoughts On Materialism In An Email To My Dad

Today, I feel like giving whoever may read this blog an even closer view into my personal heart. I don't know why I'm doing this, but part of me feels that being vulnerable and real is a good thing.

It doesn't get more real than posting a personal email that I sent to my dad this morning. So that is what I'm going to do.

I was replying to an email that he had sent me this morning, so if you'd like to see part of his email before reading my reply, scroll down and read his email first.

My dad is one of the most down-to-earth people you will ever meet. He is beloved by many people, and is an example of humility, kindness, and righteousness to me.

Now, if you are turned off by religious subjects, let me hook you and make sure that you read this post before running away.

It is safe to say that I am a very religious person. But I am also very much about secular personal development. If you are an enlightened person, be it agnostic, atheistic, or of any other spiritual belief structure, let yourself not run away from my posts.

I am friends with people of all different spiritual beliefs. And in my humble opinion, you should be too. We can all respect each others' beliefs, and find connections where we can find them. There is much of value in this post for every reader. So read on.

[This is response to my dad, and just so you know, I have made some small edits]

June 17, 2015

Thanks for sharing Dad.

I have thought about this many times over the years, as I have known since I was 10 years old that some day I would be wealthy.

I have historically passed many spiritual tests that have been put before me. I believe that have the right heart to qualify me as heaven material, and I have the right relationship with God, and a deep understanding of eternal things.

I believe that those facts will prove themselves out every time that I am confronted with temptations. I will not always be perfect in the area of materialism. But when it comes down to it, I will be led in the right direction. And I will be the person who I need to be.

Think of my life as a stock chart. I'm up and down constantly. But I'm more up than down, which equates to an overall upward trend. That upward trend is leading to eternal life with God.

I am confident that my heart and the Spirit will guide me once the wealth starts to pour in. I will not be exactly as you imagine I should be. But I will be true to myself and God. Also I will be imperfect until I die.

You know very well that I give almost no thought to how others think I should be. I make all of my decisions based upon my heart and the Spirit.

At this point I am not fully decided as to exactly how much materialism I will allow into my life. But I can promise you that I will not go overboard with it. I know full well that all of those things are completely empty without the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

True peace and fulfillment can never be linked to any material object or worldly accolade.

Time will help me unravel the puzzle of who exactly I will be with wealth.

But for now, I feel drawn to these areas:

• Building God's Kingdom

• Feeding the hungry

• Clothing the naked

• Educating the ignorant

• Inventing awesome things

• Making scientific discoveries

• Learning as much as I can possibly learn

• Physics, chemistry, math, biology, etc.

• Emotional, mental, spiritual, & bodily health

• Inspiring others

• Helping people to improve themselves

• Providing a work environment that respects people, and is very flexible and uplifting.

Some time later, a future family will be on my mind. Right now my only thoughts of that are thus:

I have basically rejected every last girl who has ever expressed interest in marrying me.

The reason for this is that I know exactly the kind of girl who I want to be with, and none of those girls were that kind of girl.

Twice I found a girl who was the kind of girl who I want to be with (within reason). Both times, I was the one who was rejected.

I have not spent a lot of effort in trying to search for a wife because of this:

• Even if I find a girl who I actually want to be with (I have very high standards), I am nowhere near worthy of her (yet).

• I would rather stay single until I have improved myself to a point where I will be worthy and able to attract a woman who is up to my standards, and can keep up with me in living the kind of life that I want to live.

• My standards for myself are extremely high. I need a girl who will match that.

• The real Chad Goldthwaite is unrecognizable from the man you know today as Chad Goldthwaite.

• My aim is to bring out my true inner self as quickly as possible.

If you or anyone else talks to me of loosing my standards and just picking someone and "settling down", I will have none of it.

Incidentally, there are two recent developments in my life that are moving me closing to being with my future wife.

1. I have for the first time in my life gotten treatment for my ADD. This is catalyzing large-scale improvements in my life.

2. I just hired an expensive life coach. This is an essential puzzle piece in helping me to reach my desires and goals. Her coaching will undoubtedly help me to build something that is aligned with my passions, and is bigger than myself; something that will affect the lives of millions of people for the better!

Love your quickly improving son,

- Chad Goldthwaite

Sent from my iPhone

I will include below a couple of snippets from my dad's email to me. Just know that this is not a summary of the email. I left a lot out, and also paraphrased a bit.

June 17, 2015

Hi Chad:

I was reading this morning, and thought of the challenging balance between having abundance, while still maintaining and keeping our distance from the desirable temptations that abundance can bring. 

I thought I'd share with you some of what I was reading:

"I will speak first of the deceitfulness of riches. Wherever we are in our spiritual journey--whatever our state of conversion--we are all tempted by this.

When attitudes or priorities are fixed on the acquisition, use, or possession of property, we call that materialism. So much has been said and written about materialism that little needs to be added here.

Those who believe in what has been called the theology of prosperity are suffering from the deceitfulness of riches. The possession of wealth or significant income is not a mark of heavenly favor, and their absence is not evidence of heavenly disfavor.

When Jesus told a faithful follower that he could inherit eternal life if he would only give all that he had to the poor (see Mark 10:17–24), He was not identifying an evil in the possession of riches but an evil in that follower’s attitude toward them.

As we are all aware, Jesus praised the good Samaritan, who used the same coinage to serve his fellowman that Judas used to betray his Savior. The root of all evil is not money but the love of money (see 1 Timothy 6:10)..."

"...Whoever has an abundance of material things is in jeopardy of being spiritually “sedated” by riches and other things of the world..."

"...Savoring the things of men means putting the cares of this world ahead of the things of God in our actions, our priorities, and our thinking.

We surrender to the “pleasures of this life”

(1) when we are addicted, which impairs God’s precious gift of agency;

(2) when we are beguiled by trivial distractions, which draw us away from things of eternal importance; and

(3) when we have an entitlement mentality, which impairs the personal growth necessary to qualify us for our eternal destiny..."

Love from Dad to a son whom I have full faith in to maintain his giving nature, his love for others, and his faithfulness to God under all future conditions.

Sent from my iPhone