Living in the Spirit
September 20, 2018
Scripture Reading: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. –James 3:13-18
In the United States, an average 3 percent pay increase is predicted by Korn Ferry, the same as for 2017. Adjusted for the expected 2 percent inflation rate in 2018, however, the real wage increase is 1 percent—down from last year’s 1.9 percent*.
In the 1950s, a typical CEO made 20 times the salary of his or her average worker. Last year, CEO pay at an S&P 500 Index firm soared to an average of 361 times more than the average rank-and-file worker, or pay of $13,940,000 a year, according to an AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch news release today**.
The average Wall Street employee took home $422,500 last year, the most since the financial crisis, according to a new report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli…. The average compensation — salary plus bonus — was 13 percent higher than in 2016, according to the report. The average bonus on Wall Street in 2017 was $184,200, a 17 percent increase**.
In 2017 the poverty level in Oklahoma was 15.8% and the median income was $48,038***. According to the MIT living wage calculator, a living wage for a family of four with both parents working would require an income for each adult of $15.35 per hour working 40 hours per week and paid for 52 weeks which equals $63,856 a year. Thus, many of our citizens are surviving on less than a living wage****.
Prayer: Lord, I share just statistics this morning as I try to make sense of the world we live in today. Open our hearts and minds to the realities that selfish ambition is epidemic in our land. Empower us to work for a world were everyone has enough. Amen.
*https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/2018-salary-forecast-us-global.aspx
**https://nypost.com/2018/09/17/the-average-wall-street-worker-made-more-than-600k-last-year/
*** https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ok
**** http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/40109