Offsite Post: ‘Riches to Rags’

 

A disturbing (but unfortunately all too common) scene developed in New York City recently:

A social media influencer’s giveaway in Union Square Park Friday quickly descended into chaos, with the young attendees throwing bottles, jumping on vehicles and screaming ‘F–k the PD” — as NYPD cops were assaulted and some eventgoers were nearly trampled.

 

Twitch gamer Kai Cenat, who has over 20 million followers on the gaming platform, scheduled the real-world meet-up at 3:30 p.m. and planned to give away PlayStation 5s, computers, microphones and other gaming accessories.

 

But within a half-hour, the crowd of nearly 1,000 kids broke down into chaos with the attendees tossing cones and brawling.

 

--The New York Post via Newswars.com.

There are reasons this sort of thing keeps happening.  We have become much too one-sided in our focus in the US and in the West in general:  We have reduced life to a pursuit of money and acquiring stuff.  The generally accepted theory of government gives credence to this.  Per John Locke, James Madison, Frederick Bastiat, and other modern political philosophers of the West, it exists mainly to protect the property of citizens.  Even thinkers like Marx aren’t far different, using government as a way to redistribute property to the proletariat.

Contemporary Western heroes, too, reinforce this mindset:  They are often men like John D. Rockefeller, men who are exemplars of the ‘rags to riches’ story, who rose from poor beginnings to become extraordinarily wealthy.

Some of the virtues of these men, like thrift and a good work ethic, are commendable, but, as we are increasingly seeing, they are not enough to ward off the moral sickness that is convulsing the body and soul of the West.  Western society needs a bit of balance in her view of what constitutes ‘the good life’.  To that end, instead of exalting solely the ‘rags to riches’ stories, some effort ought to go into the praise and exaltation of the lives of those who traded their earthly riches for rags so that they might attain the greatest treasure of all – union with God Himself.

St. Theodora, a 17^th-century saint of Romania, is an excellent example of the latter.  She left everything – possessions, family, physical comfort, etc. – in order to pursue God.  The following are some selections from her holy life:

 . . .

The rest is at

https://thehayride.com/2023/08/garlington-riches-to-rags/

Or here:

https://orthodoxreflections.com/riches-to-rags/

--

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!