Maid of Money

I was a maid for six hours once. I didn’t wear a short black dress with white lace and I didn’t wield a fluffy feather duster, but, I was a maid. For six hours. Once.

This was back when I was dating my wife-to-be. She worked at an exclusive resort on the back of Camelback Mountain where the rich and famous paid thousands of dollars a night to stay in private bungalows and cottages. She was a turn-down maid that came into the rooms in the evening to clean the room and straighten up, complete with turning down the covers and leaving a chocolate on the pillow. One night, she was terribly sick and couldn’t work and there was some risk to losing her job. Somehow I got wrangled into filling in for her; it was after hours and her boss would never know. Her friend would show me the ropes.

The turn-down part was no big deal, but the bathroom cleanup was awful. Piles of sopping wet towels in the bathtub. Tighty-whities hung over the shower rod…Wet. All of the little soaps, shampoos, tissue box, and toilet paper taken along with all the towels and bathrobes in one room (presumably stored away in a bag to take home). 1 overflowed clogged toilet surrounded by towels soaked with a suspiciously brown liquid. Bras hanging from the faucet. Washcloths in the bidet. Why did everything have to be wet? Somehow that made it worse.

I learned a little lesson that night. Money and fame don’t make a person any better than anyone else.

We are beginning a study in church on the book of James. There is a whole section in James 2:1-9 on the issue of favoritism. This is an important issue for Christians. We had better not treat someone better because they have a lot of money.

Do we treat people better in this society if they are rich or famous? Yes.

Even our kids are caught up in this chase for wealth and fame. Article

Is this healthy for our society? No!

The economic situation that we are in today can be tied directly to our propensity to live way beyond our means, trying to live the lifestyle of a rich person when we do not have the means to do so. Our kids are pressured to be the best at sports or at their schoolwork so that they can have a top career and make lots of money some day. We are the richest nation in the world and the poorest of our people are richer than most of the rest of the world. Why then, this frenetic rush for more wealth?

Money itself is not a bad thing. The love of money is. Solomon, one of the richest men in history learned this and penned Ecclesiastes 5:10. The Apostle Paul also addressed this in one of the most often misquoted verses in the Bible: 1 Timothy 6:9-10.

The truth is that the rich and famous are just like everyone else. Bill Gates may have more money than most third-world countries, but he still scratches his butt in the morning. Michael Jordan has fame and money and still gets eye boogers. Megan Fox breaks wind. Hugh Jackman has toe jam. Mary Kate and Ashley get morning breath. There’s the misbehavior of Lindsey Lohan, Kanye West, or Britney Spears. And, let’s not even talk about politicians.

Who you are as a person is much more important than what you have or the power you wield. Character matters. It is far better to live a life of simplicity and contentment than to strive and stress trying to reach for something that will never bring you happiness.

Teach this to your children. There is value in the work they do that far exceeds what they receive from it. There is significance in what you give generously that surpasses anything that you hoard miserly. And, the fame that you have among your loved ones will last much longer than fame that the media can give you.

I don’t ever want to be a maid again. But I will carry that memory with me.

I did earn a two dollar tip from an old man that night for doing such a good job.