Hidden Corners of History Measuring Prosperity

Measuring Prosperity

Jarrod E. Stephens

The Ashland Beacon

Within just a few days of the publication of this article, the year 2025 will only be a memory. 365 ¼ days of sunrises and sunsets and innumerable events that helped to shape every one of us will have come and gone without us asking it to come or go. Some of the days will never be remembered because they were dull or uneventful while others will stand out for the rest of our lives as either being tragic or wonderful.

It is likely that each of us will also spend at least a small amount of time reflecting on the year gone by and how that we have prospered throughout. It is such a reflection that can lead us to begin looking forward to the new year and begin planning for ways to help us prosper further. So, what is prosperity? Every dictionary that you look in will have a series of definitions for the word, but prosperity is a word that we all must define within ourselves and learn to measure it.

The online edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines prosperity as the condition of being successful or thriving, especially economic well-being. So, what is prosperity to you and me? Can Merriam-Webster really define it? What really caught my attention was that the definition ended with “Especially: economic well-being.” That statement implies that financial success leads to prosperity and of course prosperity leads to happiness. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with financial success, it certainly doesn’t lead to contentment. Let’s take a look at how some influential people of yesteryear defined prosperity.

Well begin by examining some proverbs written by King Solomon. Each of these statements can be found in the Holy Bible in the book of Proverbs and speak strongly about the accumulation of worldly wealth and the effects. In Proverbs chapter 15 Solomon states, “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.” It’s clear that he valued honesty and felt that the wages of righteousness tasted better than shady success. In the same chapter he clearly stated what he felt was the most valuable asset known to man, wisdom. “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver.” Money, silver, gold and all other “things” of value will bring temporary prosperity and perhaps fleeting feelings of prosperity. They’ll also rust, rot, get stolen or be spent. Wisdom and understanding, on the other hand, are lasting and can lead to true prosperity and contentment.

The decade of the 1920’s was known as the “Roaring 20s” due to economic growth and it implied a time of prosperity and success. It takes only a historical novice to discover that the roar of the 20s was silenced on October 29, 1929, whenever the stock market crashed. This marked the beginning of The Great Depression and J. Paul Getty made a statement that defines the problem of measuring prosperity with dollars and cents. “The Roaring Twenties were the period of Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundations.”

Our society is becoming increasingly self-centered and mean. Being nice to strangers and neighbors is almost a lost art and is rarely part of the equation of prosperity for many of us. Caroline Kennedy once said, “As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency.” Kindness and decency are contagious acts that will lead to the prosperity of others.

As we do look forward to a new year, let’s not try to measure our prosperity and happiness based on monetary earnings and stocks. Rather let us measure it by focusing on God’s blessings and provisions in our lives. President Calvin Coolidge once said, “Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshiped.” In other words, don’t make your personal prosperity your sole purpose for existence. Billy Graham summed up matter of prosperity by stating, “The great question of our time is, “Will we be motivated by materialistic philosophy or by spiritual power?” With God at the helm of our journey through 2026, we won’t forget our fellow man and prosperity will come. We just need to learn to measure it.