Our Amateur Hour

It seems there is hardly a segment of life that hasn’t been affected by the downturn in the US economy. Apropos to that topic, a late night talk show host quipped, “According to a recent survey, kids are receiving an average of 40 cents less from the tooth fairy. That’s right, the economy is so bad that even make-believe people are feeling the pinch.”

In another take on the economy a cartoon appeared in the “Wall Street Journal” in which a pastor is delivering a sermon on Church finances. “I want you good people to understand,” he says, “that the cost of salvation is going up.” In the material, institutional sense, the cost is going up. It costs more to heat and maintain the building, etc. But, when we’ve sifted through it all and only the pure gold remains, it comes down to a question of whether or not we are a compassionate people. The cost of salvation, in this sense, has always been…