In the midst of frenzied Christmas shopping, many of us are wondering what the New Year will hold for us. The old social compact of the New Deal of the 1930s has clearly broken down. Wealth inequality began rising substantially in the early 1960s with the focus on me, myself, and I, usually at the breakdown of community interest.
That breakdown of community interest has impacted our politics since. The rise of the “uber-rich,” as one writer put it, has resulted in both a desire to become one of them as well as a resentment of their wealth, resulting from envy. This is more than the old TV show, “Queen for a Day.” It is raw, unresolved anger buried deep in our psyches and, unfortunately, easily manipulated by demagogues.
Great! We have an analysis, but then what to do? Many professing Christian faith have been sucked into the prosperity Gospel, the idea that God will bless you with wealth beyond your wildest dreams. a perversion of what Jesus said. Sunday’s reading is the voice of John, calling us to repent. But how many of us really want to do that?
Prayer for the Day
We hear the voice of one crying in the wilderness, paraphrased:
When wilt Thou save the people, O God of mercy, when?
We shudder at what that voice tells us we must do,
For we know repentance is not easy but pretty hard.
But you, O God, can give us not just the desire, but the will,
So we live our lives more faithfully to the Gospel we hear.
In the name of the One who is that Gospel,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Popular discontent in the US has been building up for more than four decades. Many years of real prosperity would be needed to persuade the public that the country is back on the right track.
Peter Turchin, Russian-American complexity scientist, historian
Where there is not community, trust, respect, and ethical behavior are difficult for the young to learn and for the old to maintain.
Robert K. Greenleaf, founder modern servant leadership movement (1904-1990)
The time is surely coming, says the Lord,
When the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps,
And the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;
The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with it.
Amos 9: 13