“Beware the ides of March,” the old soothsayer told Julius Caesar, who believed that his military victories would let him assume an unprecedented position of power, destroying the old Roman Republic. Caesar has cut himself off from the world, believing that he alone can have the power to make decisions of life and death.
We not only have Caesar reincarnated in Vladimir Putin, who has cut himself off from the possibility of his own limits, but in many of our own politicians who have cut themselves off from the good of the Nation in order to continue receiving payoffs from corporations for their dishonorable service.
In this season of Lent, we must call power to task, especially those who betray their oath to represent the people who elected them. We must find ways to bring those who set themselves up as kings to heel, breaking into the bubbles they have created around themselves and toppling them from their position, not by assassination but by shame.
Prayer for the Day
Wanting to sing a new song to you, O Lord,
We find ourselves dejected by the corrupt around us;
Desiring to move from the night of desecration O God,
We seek ways to make defilement known.
Grant, O God of righteousness, that we can call those to task
Who betray the people for thirty pieces of silver.
In the name of the One who understood betrayal,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself a public property.
- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
You can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. You know, eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts;
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes,
That their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
They have ceased to act wisely and do good.
Psalm 36: 1-3