I am a money worrier. I’m normally a very good sleeper, but if something is going to keep me awake at night it’s money.

Like most people, I don’t worry about having too much of it, I worry about the lack of it.

Today someone sent me a link to a web site that calculates where you fit in the Global Rich List.

Tell it your income and it will position you in the list. This is where I am:

That’s right, right up there in the top 1%, in the top 0.43% to be precise. So for every person above me in the list there are 232 people below me. That’s 232 people less well off than I am. There may be millions of people better off than me, but there are billions of people worse off. Most of these people are not worse off than me by a small amount, most of them are worse off by a long, long way. I’m part way up a curve that goes all the way down to nothing.

Jesus had a lot to say about people who loved money.

He once met a rich young man. The rich young man had been a very good man, he’d obeyed the rules all of his life. He knew what was right and he knew what was wrong. But Jesus knew that there was more to it:

“If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”

That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.

Matthew 19

What a missed opportunity.

Great wealth brings great responsibility.

This morning was a walking morning. When I looked out I of the window to assess the weather I saw that it was damp and misty, but not actually raining. It’s been a very damp June and July this year. Rather than put on the full rain clobber, I put on a sweatshirt jacket and left.

The mist was a bit heavier than I was expecting, and eventually I had to take my glasses off, because it was clearer without them than with them. I put them in one of the pockets of the sweatshirt jacket.

After a pleasant walk I arrived home a little damp, but not soaked. I have this routine which results in me going walking in dirty clothes so that I can put them in the wash when I get back. This morning was no exception.

(Those of you who are quick will have already guessed the ending by now).

Mid way through this morning I wanted to quickly go down to the shops, taking my car. In order to drive I really need glasses, legally I’m apparently OK without them, but I don’t know how anyone could drive safely with this level of sight. I did the usual glasses search, desk, book shelf, kitchen window, sideboard, Sue’s desk, Sue’s bookcase, bed-side cabinet. Why are there so many places you can store glasses. But no glasses. It was time to stop and try to remember when I last had them.

The washing machine had just finished its cycle. I approached it with some anxiety. Opening the door I reached for the jacket hoping that they would have been protected in the pocket, but they weren’t in the pocket. Expecting the worst I emptied the rest of the machine, there at the bottom were my glasses.

Fortunately they are not a mangled wreck, somewhat cleaner than before, but OK.

It’s nice when things are that way around, too often it seems like things turn our worse than they first seemed.

Over the weekend Sue, Emily and I decided that we would go and explore a waterfall (Jonathan was at work).

Waterfalls a great.

It’s rained rather a lot this year so we knew we were in for a treat. Our chosen waterfall was Skelwith Force near Skelwith Bridge. It’s not the tallest waterfall in the Lake District, but it’s one of the most powerful and it helps that there is a rather good Cafe near where you park the car.

As expected, the falls were full. Water was gushing over the edge and pounding onto the rocks below.

At the top of the falls I’m always slightly mesmerised as I watch the water flow over the edge, sometimes I’m sure it’s trying to pull me in.

Emily and I ventured down the rocks to the bottom too, there the falls gave off their thunderous roar and belched their spray.

The falls were so full that a couple of canoeist who looked fairly hard-core decided that they would give it a miss. It was very powerful.

Sue and I wondered for a little while about how much water was travelling down the falls, we tried to compare it to the amount of water in a swimming pool. How long would it take this waterfall to fill out local pool? We didn’t actually come up with an answer, but we knew it wasn’t long.

There a description of Jesus in the book of Revelation in the Bible and it says this:

His head and his hair were white as wool or snow, and his eyes looked like flames of fire. His feet were glowing like bronze being heated in a furnace, and his voice sounded like the roar of a waterfall. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword was coming from his mouth. His face was shining as bright as the sun at noon.

Revelation 1

I’m not sure what a voice that sounds “like the roar of a waterfall” would really sound like, but I do know that it’s going to be powerful and I think that is what I am supposed to understand.

After we had visited the falls we carried on towards Elterwater where we marvelled at the tranquility of the water waiting to be sent down the falls.

Unfortunately we forgot the camera so the picture is from somewhere else earlier in the year when there was as much water around.