Modern thinkers prefer the theory of chance. In most cases, things just happen without divine intervention. Earthquakes, storms, droughts and floods happen. However, in human affairs, they prefer equally implausible doctrines: cleverness and hard work lead to prosperity; stupidity and laziness lead to poverty.
So who’s right? Neither philosophy is entirely persuasive but the latter certainly deserves more critical thinking. A major stock broker used to advertize, “We earn money the old fashioned way. We work for it.” As if!
Does anyone deserve a salary or a “bonus” of several million dollars? Should people earn money simply because they have money? When migrant workers toil long hours in the hot sun with a life expectancy of forty years, barely surviving from one week to the next -- can anyone boast of working harder than they do and deserving a salary of several thousand times more?
But, as we hear in today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah, human beings are given to boasting.
"By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!"
In his poem, Ash Wednesday, the poet T.S. Eliot prayed,
Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood.
We may not be able to change the economic systems of the world, but we can at least acknowledge the blessings God has given us, and their grave responsibilities.Having done so, we might then remember those whom God prefers:
I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.