During the heat of the space race in the 1960s, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ball point pen to write in the zero gravity confines of its space capsules. After considerable research and development, the Astronaut Pen was developed at a cost of about US $1 million.

The pen worked and also enjoyed some modest success as a novelty item back here on earth.

The Soviet Union, faced with the same problem, used a pencil.

This story might point to a danger of a society that has a lot of money and resources at its disposable. When faced with a problem it easily thinks money can solve it, yet misses the obvious solution that most people in the world would think of.

It’s a luxury of wealth which leads to wastage.

One thing that aid agencies demonstrate is how just a little amount of money can completely change the lives of people facing poverty: $100 can cure blindness, heal disease, provide clean water, or set up a small business or equipment that could generate a basic income for a poor family.

Think about how our society spends money. Would you agree there’s ‘waste’ ? What would God say about that? (Matthew 6:19-34)