Watch it, rich man!

After James 4:10-5:6 

A fundamental question:

what do you do with

your wealth? What do

you do with all the Lord

has blessed you with?

Riches for the sake

of riches is chasing

after the wind. You

blink your eyes, and

your riches have rotted,

your clothes become rags,

your stocks have crashed,

your banks have closed,

your comfortable life

of indulgence have ended.

You’ve condemned and

defrauded the righteous

person. It is time for you

to weep and howl for

the miseries coming

upon you.

 

Photograph by Jingming Pan via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Treasures of TANAKH Hebrew: Hineni,” poem by Brian Volck – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

A Lot of Christian Tech Criticism is Missing Three Important Things – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

 

Icthus – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.

 

“From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,” hymn by Reginald Heber – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

A pair of sonnets for St. John the Baptist – Malcolm Guite.

 

A Puddle of Pure Joy – Seth Lewis.

Storage

After Luke 12:13-21

We pack it all in

our basements, or attics,

our storage lockers, our storage pods,

our garages, our closets,

our warehouses, our second

and third houses,

we pack it all in and 

soon realize it’s not enough,

we don’t have enough

for our comfort, our safety,

our security, our peace of mind,

our station, our position,

the reason doesn’t matter

but we need more

so we get more and find

new ways and new places 

to pack it all in. so it’s there,

ready and accessible, our comfort

until we realize we need more

until our life is demanded of us

and they say in remembrance

that he with the most stuff

loses.

Photograph by Reinhart Julian via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Wealth

After Luke 12:13-21

Wealth piles up

grows exponentially

(I am blessed don’t you see)

(I must be good or done

everything right) (obviously)

I have my 401K

my stocks my bonds my gold

my offshore bank account

my domicile in Ireland

my cash my real estate

my social capital to propel

my children upward

time to consider

time to build for the future

time to build more wealth

building wealth a spiritual gift

this is what I’m called to do

and I listen to the call why not

what’s the worse that could happen

it’s not like I will have a stroke

or heart att—

Photograph by Виталий Смолыгин via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

When You Make a Lot of Money

I was having lunch with a friend. We had met at church, and discovered we not only worked for the same company, we also worked in buildings across the street from each other. We had previously met for lunch, arranging to meet at the entrance of the company cafeteria. This time he was coming from a meeting, so I told him to pick me up at my office on the way and then we’d head to the cafeteria together.

When he arrived and knocked at the open door, his entire expression hanged. I asked if something was wrong, and he shook his head. We walked down to the cafeteria, with me doing most of the talking. He acted and spoke with reserve, and he seemed troubled by something.

As we ate, he finally said, “You’re a grade 41.”

Surprised he would know, I nodded.

“Your office,” he said. “It’s the office for a 41.” Until that moment, I had known there were grades, but I didn’t know that offices also contained their own hierarchal code.

“Stock options,” he said. “Executive bonus.” I nodded again.

To continue reading, please see my post today at The High Calling.

Photograph by Talia Felix via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.