The lie of materialism

I grew up poor but we were very happy so I never made a false link between money and happiness as, unfortunately, so many seem to do now. I never wanted to be rich, but as a kid there were certain things I thought it would be cool or fun to hav.e someday. The older I get the more I realize money and material possessions matter so little in the spiritual world which is the truest reality. That is why it irks me when I see such a huge emphasis on material status as a marriage qualifier (for the husband). There is a huge gulf between what we truly need and what we want. Our culture inundates us constantly with a message of materialism and compels us to embrace a hyper-consumerist lifestyle if we wish to be happy. And on the radio I hear those nauseating commercials that implicitly link the size of a diamond and a man's degree of love for a woman. What rubbish. There is no real difference between rates of divorce for Christians in America versus non-Christians (they may even be higher for the latter). Christ calls us to be salt and light unto the earth. Our lives should stand as an example which will point others to the gospel. People here seem to go crazy for weddings and spend thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollar, yet 54% of them will be divorced! It's sheer madness. I'm glad computers and iPods and cellphones were not readily available when I was a kid. I have many happy childhood memories of playing outside. As kids we couldn't wait to get outside, in the summer we'd spend literally the entire day outside playing games, sports, socializing. Now I see so many kids who lock themselves away in their own little social webs with the internet, cellphones, video games. I think this is very unhealthy. I bet most boys would much rather have their father spend more time with them versus buying a gadget to occupy their time when they look back on their life. Thank God for godly parents!