Wash, Rinse, Spin, Repeat (original post 10/8/09)

First called a “bailout”, then (presumably because it sounds more heroic) a “rescue”, the 700 Billion spent from the taxpayers’ account today is supposed to save paradise. If that’s the case, one wonders if it’s big enough.




I spent $700 BILLION today. What’s new with you?

As October surprises go, this one surely will go down as the most expensive in history. But, as October surprises go, this one will surely go down as the least surprising.

The stunning lack of
A) response to the warnings of many (Conservative/Republican) voices for at least the past four years;
B) accountability of the many (Democrat) perpetrators that caused the crisis and;
C) media interest in reporting on the leftist leadership and interest groups that were the holes of this boat
is nothing short of, well, TWELVE digits.

The feeling of lament I have for my country at this moment brings to mind the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1:8-10:
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.

Closed ears to ample warning? Check. (see Noah/Ark)
Leadership casting blame and condescending any accusers, all the while pocketing ill-got gain? Check. (see Pharisees)
Greedy philistines doing whatever does themselves good without regard to society? Check and check. (see Merriam-Webster definition: “a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values” supported by any number of Biblical Philistine encounters)
So, with a heavy sigh, the agonizingly perennial truth comes to bear again today. “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). I have a feeling we are only beginning to see how deeply and broadly this root has taken hold in America.
Lest we simply move on from here only to pass “Go” and collect $700,000,000,000 again—and just in case someone not already in the choir is reading—make note of this , “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
It’s a mad, mad world because its destiny is repetition. The good news is, in Christ, we are washed, rinsed and released from the cycles of spin and repeat. “Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).