Readings: Isaiah 12:2-6; Amos 8:4-12; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale?
“We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?
On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. Amos 8:4-10a, NRSV
A good lawyer and the right connections are enough to get away with harming those who are least likely to fight back. The despicable add to their excess wealth while the poor leave their groceries at the register because their funds were insufficient to bring them home. Far too often, justice is not served.
I’ve lived long enough to know that powerful, wealthy people get away with their schemes, grifts, and thieving in this world. I’ve also lived long enough to know that getting away with it in this world doesn’t mean there aren’t karmic and cosmic consequences. No amount of ill gotten gain will be enough, and the goods taken at the expense of others won’t ever be sufficient. The galas and feasts can’t end spiritual starvation, and the world remains in shadow no matter how sunny the day. Self-created inner hell is the ill-gotten gain no one wants and no one can escape.
Make no mistake: justice should prevail, and real consequences and recompense meted out. But it isn’t only for the sake of those who were cheated: it might be the door out of inner hell for the cheaters.
Am I compassionate enough to pray they walk through it?