While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds through the wheat.” Matt 13:25
We are spending the summer in Door County, Wi, known nationally for its numerous quality galleries, spectacular scenery, and fish boils. Tourist from Chicago, Milwaukee flock to the area each weekend,
On the surface, the county seems upscale: one of a kind properties, with everything “cute”, yet by the numbers, most of its citizens rely on government assistance. This summer the local YMCA will hand out 18,000 free lunches; the Altrusa Club will give 500 kids, back to school supplies; the Boys and Girls Club has seen a 2000% increase in daily attendance in the past three years , teaching education, recreation and life skills in a safe environment. This is not an error, the figure is correct.
Thus in the midst of great wealth, there is great need, which is hidden from wealthy tourists. We see only those who are like us, so therefore it is easy to be hospitable; we become indifferent to the poor in our midst- out of sight, out of mind. We sleep and the homeless do not, the devil slips into our subconscious, sensuality, self-importance emerge. We eat at award winning grills, and some beg for an extra pbj sandwich to take home for supper. This does not take into account migrant laborers; they didn’t come this Spring-too cold, too wet for gathering hay. Cherry picking comes later in the season and migrants will pick the world famous cherries.
Can we wonder that the enemy is here in our country? He comes in the guise of wealth, wealth we have earned, earned for our family; wealth we have used for our own good, acquiring “things.” Poisonous as the darnel of Jesus’ time, wealth and indifference are intertwined with each other in our present time, causing misery for a large portion of our countrymen. Christ wept; I wept, but even more is needed. Not a problem to be solved by reason, but a change in attitude by all; a shift in ethics, not mine but for the good of all. Man needs a philosophy of reflection, a deeper reflection of reality determining what man must move toward, what man must move away from, and always present in our hearts, ”I give you a new commandment:, love one another.”(Jn13:34)
Can we wonder that the enemy is here in our country? He comes in the guise of wealth, wealth we have earned, earned for our family; wealth we have used for our own good, acquiring “things.” Poisonous as the darnel of Jesus’ time, wealth and indifference are intertwined with each other in our present time, causing misery for a large portion of our countrymen. Christ wept; I wept, but even more is needed. Not a problem to be solved by reason, but a change in attitude by all; a shift in ethics, not mine but for the good of all. Man needs a philosophy of reflection, a deeper reflection of reality determining what man must move toward, what man must move away from, and always present in our hearts, ”I give you a new commandment:, love one another.”(Jn13:34)
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