Edith Wharton was a  writer from the late 18th to the early 19h Century who came from a life of privilege.  One of her contemporaries was Theodore Roosevelt.  The fact that she came from a wealthy family and lacked for nothing seemed to have nothing to do with her writing, since most of it concerned the problems of poverty in her time.   Her novel, “The Age of Innocence” received the Pulitzer Prize.

Most folks might think it easy for her to write about the ills of destitution from her ivory tower in New York.  Most of us might even express our thoughts by declaring, “Easy for her to say. ”  It’s easy to imagine being rich and having no worries about anything except being consumed with our writing.

Being wealthy doesn’t guarantee a life of comfort for us.  Money comes in handy when it’s time to pay the rent or buy groceries, but it isn’t the key to happiness.

Edith was married to a man 12 years her senior.  He was a successful banker.  I don’t think she married him out of love.   It would seem that her life just kept getting better and better.  It wasn’t long before her husband started showing his attention to younger women and squandering money on them.  His mental instability must have  had a profound effect on her.  She also proved to be unfaithful to her husband with a three year affair with an American journalist, before their divorce in 1913.  Not such a perfect life..

Edith Wharton didn’t have it made.  None of us does when we rely on our own resources; our own desires; our own needs.  She went on to support many charitable  endeavors.  She was very aware of the differences in the social classes of her time and she not only wrote about them, she did something about them with the resources she had available to her.   Money is not an evil thing.  It’s the love of money that turns people into greedy individuals.

We all have our burdens to bear in life and we will have some kind of trouble and struggle as we pass through it.  We can choose to overcome that struggle on our own or depend on the one who is the true light of the world.

Lord, help me be a reflection of your bright light – the one you gave to us through your Holy Son, Jesus.  With Him as the source of my light, may I pass it on to those who have the need for it.  I have no treasures here on earth, but this precious one.  Please allow me to share it with others.