Friday, October 10, 2008

Jesus and the Stock Market

Last night I was channel surfing when I came upon an infomercial where an older Asian man was hawking a get-rich-quick scheme to middle-aged folks like me, stressing how much money they (we) would need in order to retire comfortably. He said 1.2 million. I don't have anywhere near 1.2 million. In fact, I'm quite poor. And I found it depressing to watch.

This all comes at a time when the stock market is crashing and Wall St. executives are getting little bitty hand slaps for having bankrupted the American and world economies, and then trotting off scott-free to their luxury condos in the Caribbean or their New England estates. And Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

But as I was watching this guy, the words of Christ mercifully came to my mind: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth consume, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth nor rust can consume. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Then it occurred to me how blatantly opposed to Christ our society has become. In the "good old days" (whenever those were) we at least made the pretense of having Christian values (or Hindu, Moslem, Jewish, or Buddhist values -- with respect to charitable behavior, all religions basically agree). That we care for the poor, that we are abhor deceit and dishonesty, that we adhere to some form of "golden rule." But now we are unashamedly greedy and selfish, we even celebrate it. We have dignified looking men in coats and ties -- the type we tend to respect and look to for leadership -- telling us that greed is good and that our aim should be to beat down the other guy.

We are voyeuristic as well. We seem to almost take glee in the misery of others. We watch Jerry Springer and Maury Povich exploit people on their TV shows. We have an insatiable appetite for violent entertainment and pornography. The news is full of gruesome stories of parents murdering children, and teachers and clergy sexually abusing those in their charge. And we as a society take it all in like Roman citizens relaxing in their seats at the coliseum.

We must continually be reminded then...

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures here on earth."

"There is a way that seemeth right to man, but the end thereof is death."

"Man cannot server two masters."

"Trust in the LORD with all thy heart and lean not on thine own understanding."

"In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

"God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you've accumulated?'"

"And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell."

It's amazing how potent, and how right, the words of the Bible are. We truly must keep our eyes averted from the transitory lies of this world. We must be about the business of preparing our souls for eternity.

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