Wealth

Being the Son of God, Jesus was very powerful. He could walk on water, bring the dead back to life and cure lepers. So, if he wanted, he could have taken over the temple, dressed himself and his family in the latest Roman couture and sandals of the most exotic leathers. He could have been carried around in luxury by handpicked slaves. He could have had the most beautiful trophy wife in Judea. But he didn’t do any of that.

There is, of course, a lesson in that. Wealth, in and of itself, is not the problem. St. Francis and the Buddha recognized that when wealth became poisonous, it was time to search for what was truly important in life. When one fails to find that tipping point, one becomes a Donald Trump.