Lifestyles of the rich and famous

I'm not rich, nor am I famous, but my husband attended a convention at the Chateau Lake Louise in the beautiful Canadian Rockies this weekend, and I went with him. I have no idea about which rich and famous people may have stayed in the same building, but as I wandered the lobbies and concourses of a pretty fabulous hotel, I felt sort of like a celebrity myself. It's quite the place.

But always, what makes it hard to stay in such a place is the awareness that I am among the 12% of the wealthiest humans on the planet, while the people who make the beds in the building are not as fortunate as I am. It's only an accident of birth that separates us. I haven't worked as hard or sacrificed as much as many of them have just to get to Canada. It's not fair.

The inequities of this life are quite astounding when you really think about them. I think back to my moodling about serving the poor at the clothing room for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Vincent's words, "it is only for your love alone that the poor will forgive you..." For my stay at a ritzy hotel this weekend, I should serve, with love, for another year. The poor have so many things for which to forgive me!

What's really interesting about Lake Louise is that, if you want to stay overnight and have a view of the lake, you've gotta have money. People who can't afford to stay don't get the view unless they're out for a walk. There's no campsite or less pricey hotel with a view. And the rooms at the back of the hotel cost a lot less than the ones facing the lake.

Life shouldn't be like this. If the top 12% of humanity, who use 80% of the planet's resources, chose to spread out our wealth and live more simply, making sure that we didn't have more than anyone else, but only just enough, how many people would still be considered poor? We'd all be rich if only we would share.

And here's something worth sharing...