KEEPING BALANCED

Charisse, a Young Star


A few nights ago, I looked into You Tube and searched for the latest goings-on in the life of Charisse, the young sensation from the Philippines, who was introduced to the world through You Tube. She was first featured by Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey who described her as the most talented singer in the world. She was mentored and represented by no less than music world icon David Foster.  

I was so taken by this young girl during her early days as an entertainer. I would listen to her on the Internet and follow her career. She was only 16 years old, plucked from her simple surroundings in the Philippines, where she was born and raised. She was catapulted onto the world stage of entertainment, receiving accolades and the admiration of millions. She has been making a lot of money that she probably never dreamt she would ever have.

I watched a video of her as she walked with security officers to perform in a mall in Toronto, Canada. She smiled and waved at the hundreds of people waiting to see her. I saw a very young girl having the time of her life, looking very innocent and eager to please her fans. Her life story, more than her singing talent, drew me to her. She did not know me, but I started to pray for her. How is she going to handle all of this sudden success?

Michael Smith, a Contemporary Christian Singer
On the same night I watched and listened to videos of Michael Smith, a very popular contemporary Christian singer. I saw and listened to him perform before thousands of adoring fans, and wondered, how does he handle all of this success?

Then I thought. If I were to come to sudden wealth, or get the world’s attention and admiration for some spectacular accomplishment, I wonder how I would do. 

Heirs & Heiresses

 Years ago, I worked with a very nice medical secretary. One day she told me that a New York lawyer had called her. He had been trying to get hold of her. He was able to track her down through the Mormon Genealogy Rock in Salt Lake City, Utah. He had a client who had died and left his fortune to ten relatives and she was one of them. It turned out that his client was a famous architect in New York who had invested in acreage where deposits of oil and natural gas had been discovered. A big oil company wanted to negotiate with the heirs and heiresses in order to extract these deposits. There would be an initial lump sum of money for each one and a weekly income for each to the tune of several thousand dollars for life.  

My friend, who at first was very skeptical, was flown to the land sites and met other heirs and heiresses. My friend was terribly incredulous. This was definitely a big change of fortune. She was the sole family breadwinner. Her husband had been an invalid for years and they had been struggling financially for a long time. I was so happy for her as she continued to update me with developments.  

My friend told me that there were ten heirs and heiresses. Among them were a retired school principal and a Baptist pastor. The latter waived all his rights to the inheritance. He didn’t want any part of it. He was afraid of what it would do to him and the rest of his family. The retired school principal held out the longest in signing the contract. He wanted a better deal from the oil company. When the reality of it all started to sink in, my friend began talking about their plans. They would buy houses for their married children. She would not want to quit her job, so there would be normalcy in her life. But slowly, her husband began talking about buying his dream cars (emphasis on the “cars”). We were going to keep in touch and they would plan a visit to California (we were in the Midwest at the time) to see us. To make a long story short, I left for California and lost track of them.  

Success & Failures and What They Do to Us
A family counselor once told me that there were people who were afraid of success. I couldn’t understand that. Why would anyone be afraid of success?

Failures, financial distress, hurts, misfortunes all can make life hard to bear, but so can success and a great deal of wealth. From my life journey, I can attest to the first, but have yet to experience the latter. We have seen lives destroyed by both.  

In the movie Fiddler on the Roof  we see this exchange between Perchik and Tevye:
                Perchik: Money is the world’s curse.
                 Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover.


Most people probably secretly share Tevye’s wish, and may think my friend’s Baptist Pastor relative foolish. I don’t think I have any fears that I would ever face this dilemma. I share the prayer of a very wise man from long ago.

  Two things I ask of you, Lord . . . give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 
Proverbs 30: 7-9 NIV