How Much is Enough?

Dave [Letterman] makes a lot more than I do. Way more. And I’m number one. But that’s okay. How much pie can you eat?
—Jay Leno

Of all the things to hit home with thoughts I’ve been thinking recently, a Jay Leno quote was not what I expected, yet here we are.

I’ve been rather overtaken with a question of late, “How much is enough?” How do I define what most dictionaries call “an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose; adequate; sufficient for the purpose”? What is that for me and for my family? What’s the cut off? The baseline?

The church staff subculture makes much of the “negotiating your pay cut” thing transitioning from marketplace jobs to ministry jobs, but in relation to the rest of the world that’s like saying someone went from “rich” to “oh, wait, yep, still rich.” Sure, I took a paycut, but I bet I still make more money than 90% of the world does. You probably do, too.

And isn’t that enough? Or more than enough? If it isn’t, maybe I actually need to discipline my appetite instead of trying to get more. I mean, how much pie can you eat?