Much Ado About Nothing

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September 12, 2016

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
   my heart is sick.
Hark, the cry of my poor people
   from far and wide in the land:
‘Is the Lord not in Zion?
   Is her King not in her?’ –Jeremiah 8:18-19

William Shakespeare wrote Much Ado About Nothing in 1598-99, a comedy about court politics. It seems not much has changed. We live in serious times needing serious attention. In search of information on which to base our judgments, we seem to thrive on character assassination. A larger than life reality show has taken over our media. I fear it will continue as long as it makes the large media companies money.

Jeremiah’s lament relates to serious times ignored for reasons of power and greed. We live in a nation proclaimed as having a Government of the people, by the people, for the people about which Abraham Lincoln proclaimed shall not perish from the Earth*.

 The privilege of participative government depends on our willingness to take responsibility for it. We are not living in a reality show where at the end we can push the off button and not worry about the outcome. What we do matters not just for us but for the generations to come.

Prayer: Lord, give us the wisdom of a Jeremiah. Help us perceive the difference between information and manipulation. Guide us not to back away from our civic duties but to search for the truth and demand governance targeted at assuring the Common Good for all. Amen.

*From the Gettysburg Address. See at http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm

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All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
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