Last week, my wife and I traveled to the East Coast with several friends of ours. We set out to see the beautiful colors of the leaves as they changed for autumn. We also made plans to see sites we heard about but never visited, places like Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

Even though the leaves presented almost the same colors as those on our trees in the Midwest, with only minimal changes in color, seeing the landscapes and the coast along the Atlantic Ocean was breathtaking and wonderful.

When we visited Nantucket, we took a guided tour around the island. We were amazed at the size of the houses! There were so many mansions, and I thought about how fortunate it is that the owners are to see the ocean from their doorsteps.

Sometimes, we were startled to hear the guide report that this house or that house cost over $10,000,000. I guess it truly is all about location, location, location.

One particular house caused us all to shake our heads. It was the most expensive house on the island at a cost of $40 million. What really shocked us was to hear that it is only occupied two weeks each year, during the summer. Can you imagine having a house like that and it is just your summer home? It is too much for most of us to fathom.

We each noted that the value of this house and the minimal way it was enjoyed seemed far too extreme. We all discussed how we felt that money could be used to help the poor. My wife then noted that maybe the owner also gives that much money to charity each year. I admired that thought and hoped it was true, but somehow didn’t think so. However, I wondered who am I to judge?

We quickly came to the conclusion that we are blessed with our modest home in Dyer, and we would not want to live such a lifestyle anyway.

There is a great blessing in living in moderation. May God give each of us the ability to see that.

By: Deacon Tom Gryzbek