Lazarus and the Rich Man - Repentance, Forgiveness, Thankfulness

“There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen, and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his sores.

Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

But Abraham said to him, ‘My son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’

But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31

The sin of the rich man in the parable of Lazarus was not that he had been given great wealth, even though has no gratitude, no sense of obligation, and thereby no empathy.   He thinks that it is all because of his own merits.

 No, his sin is that he allowed his preoccupation, his obsession with worldly possessions, to blind himself with his pride to the suffering of Lazarus, his poor brother, who sat every day on his doorstep.  And he gave him nothing, not even a look or a kind word.

It was only in the torment of the afterworld that the rich man's eyes are opened.   And looking across the great gulf he finally sees Lazarus, with the holy Abraham. And the first thing that the rich man does is to beg for comfort for himself, and ask Lazarus for a favor. He feels no repentance, never once saying that he is sorry.

For even as his eyes were opened, his heart remained hardened, obstinate, and he remained firmly in the grip of his sins.  It was his sins that were the chasm that separated him from true life— the door to his torment was locked from the inside.

Nations that have been blessed can blind themselves to their excesses and offenses, while taking sole credit for the blessings that have been given to them. And so they misuse their power and wealth and great fortunes, granted to them by God, to oppress and subjugate others.

And in their hardened hearts they hold their selfishness aloft, profanely, as the greatest good, the exceptional— even as they oppress and plunder and murder their own and others. Until at long last God humbles them, and breaks the backbone of their power.

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."


C. S. Lewis

Let us thank God then, for both our consolations and our trials, which cause us to pause and reflect, and keep a righteous understanding of who we are, and whom we serve.   For both good and ill come with the ease of His good Providence, and from the endless ocean of His incomprehensible love.

Truly one has come back from the dead and spoken, spoken plainly to us, we who abuse the weak, and murder the prophets, to silence His word.

If only we can open our prideful minds and hardened hearts, and listen, and find life.

Limit Down - Stock Futures Plunge Into Bear Market Territory

I was watching the futures as President Trump addressed the nation.

Survey says:   LIMIT DOWN


Overnight markets in the US are falling as you can see in the charts below.

Overseas markets are falling hard as they open in the down 4% range.

A 'V shaped recovery' that the stock touts have been talking about is off the table barring something utterly unexpected.

The drag on the economy is going to last well into the second half of this year at least.

As for the markets, they may get a sugar high if the Fed cuts 100 bp as Trump is demanding. But that will not last.

But for tonight, perhaps the Plunge Protection Team can do some good for their constituents on Wall Street.  Or not.

No doubt the con games and narrative spin will continue until morale improves.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - A Gathering of Vultures

"Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God.   Those who are at present so eager to be reconciled with the world at any price must take care not to be reconciled with it under this particular aspect: as the nest of The Unspeakable.   This is what too few are willing to see."

Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable


"As everything in what used to be called creation becomes a commodity, human beings begin to look at one another, and at themselves, in a funny way, and they see price tags.   There was a time when people spoke, at least occasionally, of 'inherent worth'— if not of things, then at least of persons."

Harvey Cox, The Market as God


“Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, or even a duty."

Simone Weil


“There is nothing so threatening to systemic evil as those willing to stand against it regardless of the consequences.”

James W. Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters


“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be with the coming of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given away in marriage, up until the very day that Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came, and swept them all away...

And they said to him, 'Where will this happen, Lord?'  And He said to them, 'Where death is, there will be a gathering of vultures.'”

Luke 17:26-27, 37

Stocks seem to be locked in a bipolar mania.

The administration will have to do a much better job of propping up the financial asset markets.

Gold and silver were sold once again.  Some of this could be asset liquidation to cover margin calls in other holdings.

Or it could just be more of the same old from the Banks who are heavily short, and who wish to pick up miners on the cheap for the next leg up in the gold bull market.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - We Learn Nothing - Truth to Power

"A narcissist paints a picture of themselves as being the victim or innocent in all aspects. They will be offended by the truth.  But what is done in the dark will come to light.”

Karla Grimes


“In the days following the crash, an axiom as old as the Republic came into play once more.  In good times Wall Street wanted Washington to leave it alone. In bad times it wanted Washington to act.”

Haynes Johnson


"It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that tolerates or even encourages systematic fraud. The behaviour that caused the mortgage bubble and financial crisis of 2008 was a natural outcome and continuation of this pattern, rather than some kind of economic accident."

Charles H. Ferguson


"Everyone knows that plagues have a way of recurring throughout history, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in the ones that crash down on us out of the sky. There have always been plagues and wars, yet they always take us by surprise. When war breaks out people say it's stupid and won't last long. Stupidity has a knack of getting in the way, which we would see if not wrapped up in ourselves. In this our townsfolk were like everybody else— they did not believe in plagues."

Albert Camus, The Plague


"Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits impatiently for her meeting with us."

Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis, the Last Days of the American Republic

The financiers of Wall Street, buoyed by the enormous funds of the Treasury, carried the day.   And there was rejoicing in New York and Washington alike, and among grifters everywhere.

Stocks rebounded sharply, and vacillated much of the day in a whipsaw manner, before climbing to their highs in the last hour of trading.

Gold was hit hard and repeatedly during the trading session in New York, and was finally smacked down to the low into the close. Silver followed a similar pattern.

Narcissists and high functioning sociopaths are an interesting lot. They think that they are superior, perfect, not in some incidental way, but at the very core of their being.

Therefore, imagine their surprise if anyone should find a fault with them, in anything that they have done.

Since they are perfect, always, what could cause someone to find a fault in anything that they have done, anything that is an extension of their perfect being?

Obviously then, that person must hate them,  be out to get them for some ulterior motive.  With malign intent they wish to undermine the private castle of perfection.

Even the most incidental remark, the slightest criticism, may be met with a visceral and overblown attack on that person. They must be belittled and discredited, so that the psyche of the narcissist can remain intact.

And so they do not learn.  For they cannot ever admit to a mistake.

This is not going to end well for the creatures of the trading pits, with the power of paper money and the shameless confidence game triumphant.

It's not even going to be an open casket.

This generation no longer believes in plagues, or in anything else that can overwhelm them, that is more powerful.  Particularly despised is innocence, and kindness, as weakness.

God is not mocked.  His love for us is relentless, overwhelming.

And one like a little child will lead them.

Have a pleasant evening.