Pentecost +3 Sunday - C1

Pentecost +3 Sunday - C1

Years C
1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a or 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15

It would be easy to get lost in a comparison of these two tales - there are so many parallels and distinctions to be made, so many allusions to other events (before and after).

One of these is not the real story holding an optimal moral. Both of them recount realities in lives we lead. A key task is discernment of application.

Wherein have we fallen short and made things increasingly worse? Disaster comes and echoes on. Wherein have we fallen short and cut our losses? Disaster still comes, and goes.

Sweet Honey in the Rock has a marvelous song entitled Greed. A recurring line, "I've been thinking about how to talk about greed" leads into a helpful way of coming at both these passages. The whole song is wonderfully challenging and recommended (listen to a RealPlayer snippet).

= = = = = = =

how am I greedy?
let me count the ways!
no, pride would set in
for my greed knows no bounds

an easy measurement
tells you about your greed
for everywhere yours shows up
mine surfaces in competition

whether tidbit greedy
or ravenously
bit-by-bit or all-at-once
disaster slouches nearer

horrible bad day momentum
feeds on our avoidance
of acknowledgment
and back-room deals

addiction to greed
is a powerful aphrodisiac
for the Narcissus clone
that carries our name

no morals obtain here
G*D is revealed in our greed
we live and die attaining
controlling and more