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.
2 comments:
Great post!
Pat thinks its his job to rank sin. I would like to hear his take on the hypocracy of his ministry.
This is mordantly funny! (a good description of a lot of Rick's thoughts!)
I have been thinking about the seemingly random course of events in the world, compared with the Old Testament's presentation of so much that happens geo-politically as God's direct action in judgment, either on "the nations" in general, or on his own people in particular. It's hard not to conclude that every single thing that happens that hurts people and the planet is either 1) a direct result of our own folly or 2) the work of the Enemy. (I strongly believe in the Enemy aka "the prince of this world," Satan, Beelzebul, etc.). Therefore the only way to make any sense of the dreadful things that happen is 1) humbly to admit that we cannot understand, and 2) trust in the promises of God and throw ourselves into bearing witness to his future.
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