JESUS AND THE MARKET
When I wrote To the Close of the Age, I wondered what it would be like to visit biblical times and actually see Jesus. One thing I would not want to see is Jesus visiting our times. Oh, we could use Him for sure, but I fear what the modern world’s reaction would be. In that vein, the following short story is offered.
As Jesus walked in the countryside near an agribusiness that specialized in pork, He happened upon a man possessed by demons. What is your name?” He asked and the man replied, “Legion, for we are many.” Jesus took pity on the soul and was about to cast out the demons when the spirit begged to be sent into a nearby herd of swine. Jesus cured the man, the demons entered the swine, and the whole herd immediately rushed down a steep bank and drowned in the sea.
A passerby captured the image on his cellphone and word reached the city via social media, though the message was altered in the re-telling. A Facebook friend who worked for a major brokerage firm rushed into the offices shouting, “There has been an agribusiness disaster; pork futures are down 150 points!” The entire commodities market plunged, as the “street” was in an uproar. A massive sell-off ensued and the Dow lost 350 points in a single hour.
Talking heads on the cable news outlets opined that an economic collapse rivalling the Great Depression was in the offing.
A few tourists in Washington were injured, though none seriously, since they had the misfortune to be standing between the nearest microphone and their elected officials in the hallowed halls of congress. Democrats in stentorian tones set blame on the GOP’s trickle down policies, and on the fact that the Administration was entangled in arguably illicit foreign business dealings. Republicans, in equally grave mien, faulted the Obama Administration’s liberal tax and spend ways and the need to build a wall to keep foreigners out. The President’s spokesman said it was proof that no president had ever been so poorly treated by the media. With that, Congress called for a special prosecutor and promptly adjourned.
A congressional committee chairman on his way to a fact finding mission in Tahiti, made a pit stop at the agribusiness. There he asked the stranger who had started it all to leave the town because of the unrest He had caused.
Jesus told His disciples, “This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” So He left and went to another country more deserving of His message.
