May 15, 2011:

Ponderings of a Pilgrim PASTOR

“Times Change”

Do you remember the 1981 film comedy "Arthur?" If you do then, like me, you have been around for at least 40 years. If you liked it you probably have seen the re-make currently in theaters.

If you don’t remember the story or never saw the film, let me remind you. British actor Dudley Moore (a fine concert pianist, by the way) played Arthur Bach, the merrily alcoholic heir to a family fortune who must agree to an arranged marriage or forfeit his millions. Liza Minnelli starred as the charming waitress who catches his eye and eventually marries him (though what she sees in him never made much sense to me, other than his wealth, of course).

Since lovable drunks aren’t so popular anymore, Arthur now attends Alcoholics Anonymous, but he’s not all that serious. At the first meeting he grumbles, "It’s like unhappy hour." Think of Arthur less as Peter Pan and more like Charlie Sheen.

But the big difference in the film is his money. In 1981 Arthur’s fortune was $750 million, enough to put him on the Forbes list of 400 wealthiest Americans. The new film ups his inheritance to $950 million, nothing to sneeze at but enough to keep him off the 400 list which is now made up only of billionaires. Is this change intended to keep Arthur from being associated with today’s villainized, super-rich Wall Streeters? Could it be that these days to be an alcoholic is more acceptable than to be too rich?

Someone once said, "The rich are different." You bet they are. The ever-increasing greed of the wealthiest Americans is a form of moral cancer. And that’s no laughing matter.

Love,
Pastor Dave