The Old Testament routinely describes riches or “blessings for those who trust in the Lord,” and poverty, “curses for those who trust in human beings.” In the Gospel, Jesus too assures blessings and not curses but woes, yet in precisely the reverse manner, ‘Blessed is the one who is poor, hungry, weeping, insulted.’ ‘Woe to the person who is rich, satisfied, teasing, praised.’
The Lord of the Old Testament assures the welfare of those who trust in him. Who is the Lord? It could be said he is the Lord of the system. He is the Lord of the political system that keeps him rich and others poor as the proper order of things. He is the Lord of the financial system that believes capital gains are deserved by the rich who justify using we who are poor, Black, women,… to get them. He is the Lord of the ethics system who wages war – for the blessed rich to secure their welfare and against the cursed poor to destroy their welfare. Welfare Lords are very different than welfare queens. Who is a Welfare Lord? A Welfare Lord is the recipient of billions of dollars in state and local subsidies. A Welfare Lord has U.S. federal Government contracts, including for his SpaceX rockets, that total in the multi-billions of dollars. A Welfare Lord receives $11 billion dollars in emissions credits for his electric car company that are built in factories partially run on coal. A Welfare Lord establishes a racist apartheid workplace for his car company employees, which resulted in an EEOC investigation, which, like all other investigations into the Welfare Lord, has been terminated by his cohort president. A Welfare Lord insults illegal immigrants as enemies though the South African was himself an illegal immigrant. A Welfare Lord eviscerates Black History Month while he invites aggrieved South African whites to join him the U.S. to help him establish in this nation a racist apartheid political, financial, ethics system. A Welfare Lord establishes a DOGE organization to take possession of the U.S. Treasury and its data to certify deserving whites get their jobs and money and to steal from undeserving Blacks their jobs and money. A Welfare Lord makes the Nazi salute and appreciates the Confederate flag. A Welfare Lord is a wealthy, white, male among others in the tech CEO world who control massive platforms and unleash from them violent racist verbosity. A Welfare Lord claims to believe in the principles of Christianity while he is a Judas to Jesus. A Welfare Lord keeps open agencies and contracts furthering his plunder. Why? Because he is deserving of blessings. A Welfare Lord closes down agencies and contracts that assist people with their basic needs. Why? Because welfare queens are deserving of woe. Who is a welfare queen? According to the Welfare Lord, a welfare queen is poor, Black, a woman,… who receives from the government a few hundred dollars a month – none of which the Welfare Lord believes she deserves.
Your country? How came it yours? Before the Pilgrims landed we were here. Here we have brought our… gifts and mingled them with yours… our gift of the Spirit (has not) been merely passive. Actively we have woven ourselves with the very warp and woof of this nation,— we fought their battles, shared their sorrow, mingled our blood with theirs, and generation after generation have pleaded with a headstrong, careless people to despise not Justice, Mercy, and Truth, lest the nation be smitten with a curse.” (The Souls of Black Folk – W.E.B. DuBois)
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, we are grateful for the blessings of diversity.
Question: How do we plan to deal with Welfare Lords?
February 16, 2025 Gospel Luke 6:17-26 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time