Faversham Times: Thought For The Week
Published 27 September 2012

You’ve probably heard the story of the rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. ‘Why aren’t you out there fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,’ said the fisherman. ‘Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?’ the rich man asked. ‘What would I do with them?’ said the fisherman.

‘You could earn more money,’ came the impatient reply, ‘and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase better quality nets, catch even more fish, and make even more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.’

The fisherman asked, ‘Then what would I do?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life,’ said the industrialist. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ replied the fisherman looking placidly out to sea.

Why do I always have the tendency to want more? Why do I fall for the lie that more equals better? It’s certainly true that it’s hard to swim against the consumerism of the times, but learning to be content with what I have is a valuable lesson. Jesus warns: ‘Guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.” (Luke 12:15)

The old bumper sticker said ‘The one who dies with the most toys wins.’ Next to it, someone had added ‘The one who dies with the most toys . . . still dies’.