P. Pilgrim
John Davison Rockefeller is synonymous with fame and fortune, was one of the world’s wealthiest men and a major philanthropist, who was founder of the Standard Oil Company. He is considered the consummation of the American way of life. He was born on July 8, 1839, in New York to poor parents, his father was a traveling salesman and not at home for many months of the year. So his mother was more influential in the up bringing of her 6 children. As a result of the lack of money in the home his mother taught her children that “willful waste makes woeful want”. Even as a boy he was industrious and earned money by raising turkeys, selling candy and doing jobs for neighbours. In 1853, the Rockefeller family moved to the Ohio area, where John attended high school before briefly studying bookkeeping at a commercial college. Two years latter, at age 16, he found work as an office clerk in a firm that bought, sold and shipped grain, coal and other commodities. In 1859, Rockefeller and a partner established their own commission firm, he was only 20 yrs old! That same year, America’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Rockefeller was astute enough to see the importance that oil could be and in 1863, Rockefeller and several partners entered the booming new oil industry by investing in a Cleveland refinery. Oil was used throughout the country as a light source until the introduction of electricity, and as a fuel after the invention of the automobile. Instead of wasting the by products of oil and throwing them away, Rockefeller found alternative uses and so increased his profits. He stored the oil in barrels but instead of buying them in he had them made on sight for one third of the price. He was renowned for making deals with the railroads which transported his oil around the country for a better price. Rockefeller’s wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak. Consequently, Rockefeller became the country’s first billionaire, with a fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy. Even though he was extremely rich he saw the benefits of helping others and for the last 40 years of his life while in retirement, he spent it defining the structure of modern philanthropy. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy through the creation of foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered developments in medical research and were instrumental in the near-eradication of hookworm and yellow fever in the United States.
Nevertheless, Rockefeller said, “The saddest person I know is the person who has nothing but money.” You may have money but not be happy. Rockefeller had money but he saw the need to maintain other activities in one’s life. A verse in the New Testament in the gospel of Luke 12:15 says, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Money and belongings do not bring happiness. Psalm 144:15 says “happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.” John Rockefeller said “There is nothing in this world that can compare with the Christian fellowship; nothing that can satisfy but Christ.” Money and material gifts do not satisfy the longing of the soul. Only Jesus Christ can console and free the soul from its bondage.
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