My wife and I had the most incredible experience last night. Out of the blue last week, our neighbors invited us and a few other people over to their house for dinner. It's summer time and that seems to happen more. We gratefully accepted.

In the small group at the time of the invitation, there was talk of bringing Martinelli (sparkling juice in a wine-like bottle) that us Mormons sometimes drink at times of celebration. Why we do this, I'll never know.

So last night was the planned dinner at our friends and neighbors' house. Thinking we might be attending a summer BBQ, we showed up in jeans, shirts, and sandals (it's been a very hot summer). Little did we know what was to await us. A picture speaks a thousand words.

Look at that table. Flowers. Fancy napkin rings surrounding silk napkins. Shrimp cocktail. Multiple plates. Gold-plated cutlery, and lots of it. Multiple glasses. We were seated at our assigned seats by invitation. That's sure not how we do it at our house for meals... and I suspected that wasn't the norm for our hosts either.

You're cruising around the interwebs and social media, looking to relax, maybe have a laugh or get inspired. All is going well until someone posts a comment or photo or joke about (WHATEVER).

What does it take to offend you? Someone saying things you disagree with about

• your religion?
• your politics?
• your family?
• your school?
• your appearance?
• your gender
• your privilege
• your (pick something... anything)

Taking offense seems to be a pretty popular sport in the online world. There's not enough space on this page to list all the things over which people could get their knickers in a twist. Why is that?

It's not every day that Andrew Carnegie gets a positive quote in a religious sermon. He was known to be about money. An absolute ton of money.

Money Magazine lists Andrew Carnegie as the 6th richest guy on the planet ever in history. He falls far ahead of Bill Gates and a little ahead of John D. Rockefeller, but just behind Joseph Stalin (only because Stalin controlled an entire country with 9.6% of global GDP).​

Isn't money the root of all evil? Isn't money the greaser of palms and the cause of so much vice? I guess for some, that's how they see money.

Maybe Andrew Carnegie came to be one of the richest people because he did those things? Have you ever heard such a thing? I know people who absolutely believe that that kind of wealth must have come from crooked means. To me that's a sad outlook on life, but understandable with what we see in the world today. Even Bill Gates faked out IBM, Xerox, and Apple to get where he got (at least that's the way I read those stories).

You may remember that Andrew Carnegie also commissioned Napoleon Hill to study all the wealthiest people of his time and come up with a plan that anyone could use to become rich. In fact, the plan became the book Think and Grow Rich.

Getting rich must have been pretty important to Carnegie. He wanted everyone to know how to do it. Was this just about fortune, pride, or extravagant living?

The second part of the story, and what made the religious quote so interesting, was that Andrew Carnegie believed all the rich folks should die poor. Not that they should have their wealth stripped from them or that they should be taxed into oblivion. But that they should do something that's unfortunately rarely heard of these days.​ Super rare!

Do you remember the SNL character Debbie Downer? She seemed to find the negative in almost any situation. The skits were hilarious because they were a caricature, an exaggerated view of how some people seem to be with their doubts.

I once knew a guy whose family, behind his back, referred to him as "Buzz Kill." He was a loving and generous man, but bring up a significant topic about health or money or the goodness of people and he became Debbie Downer. Grumpy Gus is another way to describe him, and he seemed to relish that reputation. Thankfully, still kind and generous.

I used to be able to relate to that view of life. I started out life as one of the chief skeptics. I doubted and doubted until I believed my own doubt. The operative words there are "my doubt." Pick a topic. I doubted it. Worse, I was very vocal and complaining about it. "Wait and see" seemed to be the way I went about life. I wouldn't be surprised if my family labeled me "Buzz Kill" behind my back at some point.

​In ancient Greece, the two main schools of skepticism both thought we should just hold off on judgment because it would make us feel better in our minds. It would give us "ataraxia" or "a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquility." (see dictionary.com)

Then something changed in my brain, and I can't really tell you when. Skepticism did not give me ataraxia or any other type of mental calmness or happiness. I began to think that life was an experiment. I wondered and wondered about all kinds of things. Like Alice, I became "curiouser and curiouser." (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 2)