Arrogance

A number of years ago I read a book titled simply: Hell. Among other things, it had a chapter which discussed the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy. The Corporal Works were easy to remember. In short: Care for your neighbor in his physical needs. I rated myself ok on those things. The 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy, however, kind of shocked me. I was doing so poorly there in things such as: "Instruct the ignorant; Counsel the doubtful; Bear wrongs patiently; and (Gasp!) Admonish the sinner. Caring for a man's bodily needs seemed so natural, but caring for his spiritual needs -- something far more important in the long run -- I barely considered. But I think I am doing better.

One of the ways I have taken to "admonishing the sinner" is to write letters to the editor of papers and magazines. Easier than confronting someone face-to-face (which I rarely try to do), it gives me some small measure of satisfaction that I am at least trying to care for the souls of others. And now, I guess, I can print those letters here also.

Here is one I mailed to the Wall Street Journal today:

The WSJ headlines a man who believes $100 million is fair pay for his gambling skills. The man, who admires the Nazis, believes we should admire him.

Judges must now recuse themselves from cases involving their heavy donors (hurrah!), but congress wouldn’t think of applying such a limitation to itself, and passes hundreds and hundreds of earmarks “coincidentally” to their donor friends. Airports, schools, and buildings are named after them, for their ability to buy votes with the money they were entrusted with. Elected as “servants of the people”, it’s obvious who they serve, and who they think is important.

Arrogance. Arrogance. Arrogance. If they want their pictures immortalized, it should be next to scriptural text references of “those with stony hearts