"The people ask, “Why should we fast if the Lord never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?”
The Lord says, “At the same time that you fast, you do what you want, and oppress your workers. Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers? When you fast, you act like you suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that?
The kind of fasting I want is this: remove the burden of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and provide homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help those around you."
Isaiah 58:3-7
"And we have come to know and to trust the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them."
1 John 4:16-17
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."
Matthew 6:16-18
The PCE inflation number came in a little higher than expectations today, so Wall Street decided to hang out the laundry.
The Dollar rallied.
Gold, and particularly silver got hit hard.
One data point, or even a few, do not make a trend.
I suspect the Fed will just stick to its 25 bp rate increases for now.
Crushing the real economy in order to correct for the Fed-induced inflation that benefited only the one percent and the financiers seems only fair.
Today is the first anniversary of the Ukraine-Russia war.
As George Orwell said, 'War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it.'
Need little, want less, love more. For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.
Have a pleasant weekend.
