Opulence!

We spent a fun day this past weekend in Southern Ohio at some friends of ours who are not rich but very well off. Their source of income has been earned the hard way, through sweat and sacrifice. They own a summer home which sits on about one hundred acres of beautiful reclaimed strip mining territory. Their four wheeler toys cost more than my car, and they share them generously with their friends whom we count our selves lucky to be among.

I've often thought how wonderful it would be to have that kind of money. Until now. During our conversation this weekend our hostess, Sharon, told us about a once in a lifetime adventure which she had taken this summer. At the expense of one of her own generous friends she was able to cruise the Bahamas for two glorious weeks in a way few people are able to do.

Sharon's friend is a Widow who's husband was a brilliant inventor and good business man. At the time of his death, he held countless patents for which he was paid handsomely. He left his wife wealthy beyond anything you or I could imagine. Sharon brought out a computer slide show which literally took our breath away. The pictures of this woman's home in all its opulence were mind blowing, but the real shocker was the 80 foot yacht, with a crew of three, which she owned and used to take friends on countless cruises. The yacht had five , yes, five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Everything was done in marble, and etched glass, and decorated exquisitely. As we gaped at the photos Rudy said "Wow! That must be a million dollar boat." To which Sharon quickly replied, "Six million." We literally gasped at the thought of such opulence. There was a picture that had been taken of the back of the yacht which displayed its christened name SCOOTER. The letters were inlaid gold!

For two weeks Sharon and six others were treated to unlimited cruising pleasures in the Bahamas. An experience which Sharon will never forget and be forever grateful. I cannot even begin to imagine such a lifestyle.

Days have passed since I viewed the slide show and I still can't wrap my head around the chasm which divides the truly wealthy from the rest of us. I do not begrudge their fortunes as they have earned it by their own merit and not through the blood or sweat of others. But a part of me says, "How much is too much?" How can there be so much wealth for so few and such staggering poverty for so many, and how long can you and I remain in the middle precariously separating the two.