God and the Monument

It was on the Huffington Post that I saw the report. It seems that the Pat Robertson of the Christian evangelical persuasion has suggested that the earthquake that caused some cracks in the Washington Monument was an act of God to tell us that He was displeased with us as a country. The reason for God's displeasure was abortion, same sex marriages, multiculturalism, and a host of other things that Pat considers a sin.

But the fun thing would be to see how many other interpretations that could be given to those cracks in the monument. We will start with the given that Pat starts with: that the Washington Monument is a symbol of the power and "moral uprightness" of this country. But it might also be argued that those cracks are God's displeasure over the way Congress and the leaders have refused to cooperate and to solve the multitude of problems that confront this country. Those cracks might be God's frustration with the partisanship that prevents any significant action to be taken on the host of major problems facing the country.

A little different take on those cracks could be God's displeasure on the Republicans for their attacks and abuses of the poor, the old, the vets, the college students, the middle class, as the cuts in the budget deal are almost all directed at the small portion of the budget that deals with social services and educational assistance.

We could come at these cracks another way if we were so disposed. The excitement and build up of attention on the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument might be the reason members of the KKK would give for God's displeasure with us. With a black president and a monument to a black leader, the KKK's God would surely want to put his foot down. Send a message.

There might be a case made by the Wall Street Hedge Fund managers that the reason for God's displeasure is this talk about higher taxes on the rich and raising the tax rate on Capital gains. Wall Street's God would not be happy to see bonuses dipping and higher taxes.

No one could fail to acknowledge the case made by the construction industry that the cracks in the monument represent a failure of proper maintenance and repair of vital infrastructure in this country. The God of Construction wanted to point out that our bridges, our subway systems, our harbors, our runways, our water and sewer systems are all getting older and are in need of repairs and replacements. Cracks in the Washington Monument might get our attention to repair things now.

Well, so many options. Too many interpretations and possibilities. But I am sure that the readers have their own. I would love to hear them.

It is not a Joke

Several couples were sitting around a table and one of the men said he had a great joke. Seems there was this elderly man in Florida who decided to get him a hot sports car. He drove it off the lot and went out on the Interstate to test it out. He hit 80, 90, and was pushing 100, when he saw a Highway Patrol officer with flashing lights. The old man immediately sped up and tried to get away. 110, 120, and then he said to himself, “What am I doing? This is crazy.” So he slowed down and pulled over. The Highway Patrol officer walked up to the car. Pushed his goggles up on his helmet, and said to the old man. It is Friday afternoon. I go off duty in ten minutes. If you can give me a reason that I have not heard before as to why you were speeding, I will let you go. The old man said, Well you see, five years ago my wife ran off with a State Highway Patrol officer, and for a moment there, I thought you were bringing her back.” The Troop pulled down his goggles, turned and walked away, and said, Have a good day.

Everybody enjoyed the story, but the wife of the man who told it. So the man says, It was a joke. It was just a joke. I was not making any comment about marriage or women. It was a joke. Lighten up.

That is often how we try to take the sting out of rude or insulting remarks. It is a joke. We were just joking around. That is what Dr. William Barclay, the famous Biblical Scholar, and Dr.W.C. Allen, who wrote the scholarly International Critical Commentary on Matthew, said about Jesus harsh words to the Canaanite woman. Jesus said,"I can't take the food that was meant for the children, and throw it to the dogs." He called her a dog. Barclay and Allen both say that Jesus must have had a smile on his face, a twinkle in his eye, and a laughter in his voice.

Well, I think Jesus meant it. I think that Jesus was saying that there is a limit to God's love. He could not take the bread of life that the Jewish had been waiting for for centuries and give it to people who just came around and wanted something. Jesus says there is a limit to the grace of God. We cannot give Democracy to countries that have no preparation for it. We cannot give home ownership to homeless people and have it work out. Jesus says you cannot give the kingdom of God to people who do not know what the Kingdom is.

The woman did not seem to be insulted. She just tells Jesus that there are other people who are not the promise children who have been waiting, looking, hoping, and praying for the coming of God. Others like dogs under the table are also waiting for the blessings of God.

There is a limit to God's ability to give his love and grace. God cannot give forgiveness to anybody who does not believe he has done anything that needs forgiveness. God cannot give hope to people who think they have all that they need. God cannot give reconciliation to families that refuse to talk about the pain and suffering and conflict in their family. They would rather live with the pain than mention it and do something about it. Jesus cannot be a savior to people who do not want to be saved. Jesus was not joking when he told the woman that he could not give her the children's bread. But she amazed him with her responds and he says, "Whoa, woman is faith is great. You got what you have been hoping for, and the child was healed. God can only give us the gifts He has when we come to the place where we know we cannot give ourselves what we need.

WAGE GAP IS A SIN

About ten or fifteen years ago The Presbytery of New Hope in eastern North Carolina had an overture they sent to the General Assembly. The overture they sent was to ask that the PCUSA committee on investments initiate stock holder resolutions to establish that the salaries of the CEO would not be more than 200 times the average salaries of the non managerial staff. The Presbytery included in that resolution the idea that all compensation for the CEO be included in that figure. The idea was that the top person, with all the perks and privileges, should not make more than 200 times the average of all the secretaries, janitors, maintenance workers and other non-management people. For every dollar of increase in that figure, the CEO could get 200 dollars. The Presbytery believed that the wealth ought to be shared with those who did the work.

That was a rather radical idea as the gap between the CEO and the non-management people at the time was larger. The CEO's of the largest companies in the country were being paid 411 times the average. At the time the gap between the CEO's in this country was larger than the gap in any European country.

The Resolution went to a committee at the General Assembly and the investment committee representatives said they were already talking to companies about that issue and we did not need to pass that overture. The Presbytery's overture was answered in the negative.

So it was with sorrow that I read the Washington Post article that reported that "When it comes to wage inequality, the U.S. ranks alongside developing countries. " Our gap is a little smaller than the gab between CEO's and the non-management people in Uganda and Jamaica, but our gap is bigger than even the Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. (Their article did not use numbers)

It is not just the hedge fund managers who are afflicted with greed. It is in all of us, and the work of all of us is to control the greed of each other. That is the beauty of joint and shared power. The group is supposed to restrain my greed, and I work with others to restrain the greed of others. When the compensation committees of these large corporations are made up of other CEO's nobody is restraining any body's greed.

Workers have to share in the profits of the corporation just as much as the stock holders. It is not Socialism or Communism which tells us that the workers must be paid fairly. There are very strong and prosperous companies who have some limits on CEO salaries and who keep the ratio in check. I think it is Christian Justice for all of us to push for a reasonable ratio. What we have now is just sinful.