I often say that one should not be in the elite, and not be like them.

Yeah, Right. And then I find myself at a black tie ball, supporting the SPCA. Worthy cause: supporting the pro photographer in networking: watching those who want to gain status demonstrating their wealth by paying too much in a charity auction.

The cause was and is worthy: the pro photographer liked to dress up, and enjoyed the fact that I made an effort to do the same. We enjoyed ourselves.

But the judgmental may say, well, yes, you are part of the elite: you have tenure (true) you live in an area without much deprivation (true) and you attend black tie events and orchestral concerts (also true). I also play in a community orchestra.

And I have no guilt about this. There are good things in our culture, and we should enjoy them. We do not have to wear sackcloth and signal virtue.

But we need to be content, and not look too much at others. There will always be someone more successful than you. Be content with your gains and your triumphs, and rejoice when others do well.

For envy rots the soul as much or more than avarice.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

Grace be with you.

(1 Timothy 6:6-21 ESV)

If you have an element of prosperity, and you can provide for your family, you have not taken on too much debt, you have met the duties to your family and your extended family… then be generous and hospitable.

Think of your parents, and if you need to have them in your home. Think of your children and grandchildren. Set up your home so you can be hospitable: even this misanthrope throws an annual party.

And if your family worships God and the house is warm and there is food in the pantry, be content. The memes of this world are about jealousy and envy and greed. Ignore them.

The social history of Switzerland, where women weren’t allowed to vote until 1971, reveals the subtleties of employment expectations on happiness. A decade after Swiss women gained suffrage, the country’s citizens voted in a referendum on whether the constitution should be amended to state that women deserve equal pay for equal work.

Different parts of Switzerland voted very differently. Unsurprisingly, cantons (Swiss states) with a high proportion of votes in favor of the amendment were recorded as having a small gender wage gap some years later. But strangely, working women in areas with strong traditional values – where most people had voted against equal pay – were happier than working women in liberal cantons.

Even though their salaries were further below those of the men around them, the women in more traditional communities were less likely to report discrimination than their countrywomen in more liberal areas.

This inside-out result probably arises from different cognitive comparisons. Women in liberal communities are less happy and notice discrimination because they automatically compare their opportunities and salary to everyone else around them, men included. Traditionally minded women perhaps base their identities more firmly on their gender roles, and think only of other women when they evaluate their privilege and opportunities.

This kind of difference might explain the lessening happiness of American women. As women’s rights and opportunities have increased, it seems reasonable that women in industrialized countries have internalized ever more complex and optimistic expectations, and judged reality against these. Asked how satisfied she is with her lot in life, the housewife of the early 1970s probably just reflected on whether things were going well at home. The same question today evokes evaluations across many areas of life.

Declining happiness among women may seem depressing. But who ever claimed an expanded consciousness brings satisfaction?

What the guardian is talking about here is the Apex Fallacy. It is to look at the very best and brightest and most beautiful and most athletic — people who are four or five standard deviations away from the mean of the population — and be envious that you are not like that.

I cannot do Nate. At all. I would need to scale out the muscle ups. But I can enjoy seeing people do it well. Moreover, the day I get a banded muscle up I will be stoked.

We need to compare with what we have done.

Because the real Apex is Christ. By his standards, we are all lacking, we are all broken, and we are all weak. Therefore we need to, as Paul wrote to Timothy, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, steadfastness and gentleness.

Male and Female.

Regardless of how white or brown or black we are.

Regardless of how talented we are.

For there are many gifted people who have made a shipwreck out of their lives, trying to signal perfection instead of having the humility to talk about improvement, and having pride in their status or that which they have no responsibility for.

There is no virtue, you see, in intelligence or athletic skills or beauty. What matters is what you do with what you have been given. And to those to whom much is given, much is required.

And generosity, here, is but the beginning.