The three Synoptic Gospels tell us that after Jesus entered Jerusalem he went to the temple, and upon seeing the money changers who sold pigeons for sacrificial offerings, he became enraged, overturning their tables, chastising them, that they had made the temple a den of robbers rather than a house of prayer.
As Jesus challenged to the temple leadership which got a cut of the profits from the money changers, we are called to challenge the corruption between big business and our government. The oil lobby is just one example The mega computer lobby, which received an exemption from tariffs this past weekend is another.
But as Hans Christian Andersen wrote in his tale of the emperor’s new clothes, even a child can see past the illusion of power. We are called to take on the new oligarchy that still leaves many wondering what is happening in our Nation. Sometimes it seems like we have little or no power, but we cannot not simply sit back and allow corporate business interests to control us and our future. Calling out its fraud is a way to start.
Prayer for the Day
Knowing what is required of us, t we falter, O God;
Knowing what we need to do, we hesitate;
Seeing the evil in the world, we use helplessness as an excuse,
But you chastise us, calling us to respond.
Move us, O Holy One, beyond the excuses we create:
So we may live faithfully according to your Gospel.
We ask this in the name of the One who responded,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
This is the dream scenario for tech investors. Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game-changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.
Dan Ives, chief of global investment, Wedtech
The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants, for they have transgressed laws,
Violated its statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled, and few people are left.
Isaiah 24: 5-6