Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all you who dwell in the world,
you of high degree and low,
rich and poor together.
My mouth shall speak of wisdom,
and my heart shall meditate on understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb
and set forth my riddle upon the harp.
Why should I be afraid in evil days,
when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
the wickedness of those who put their trust in their own prowess,
and boast of their great riches?
One can never redeem another,
or give to God the ransom for another’s life;
for the ransom of a life is so great
that there would never be enough to pay it,
in order to live forever and ever
and never see the grave.
For we see that the wise die also; like the dull and stupid they perish
and leave their wealth to those who come after them.
Their graves shall be their homes forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation,
though they had named lands after themselves.
Even though honored, they cannot live forever;
they are like the beasts that perish. ~ Psalm 49:1-12
This sounds an awful lot like someone who knew the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Again, we see all the different things we humans try to count on that don't last. That don't save.
That don't give eternal life.
We count on so many things in this world, don't we? We put stock in our homes, our jobs, our friends, our education, our weapons, our wealth.
And what do they really get us?
Within these texts I don't see a charge not to have anything or buy anything or own anything.
I see a charge to be careful in how much you trust those things. They are temporary. Fleeting.
And to see them as all that we need isn't going to get us very far.
They aren't the things that bring us real, full life.
Holy One, you are all that I truly need. Help me to have care for my attachments that they do not take the place of you. Amen.