Teach your children the truth, not the lie!After reading this Christian parents, you have absolutely no excuse for lying to your children about the lie, which is an evil combination of pagan mythology and American capitalism (i.e. Coca-Cola and department stores) plus the obvious fact that this world much prefers to talk about Santa Claus and other works-based pagan “the spirit of giving” nonsense than about Jesus Christ. Well, the REAL Nicholas was a man who began preaching about Jesus Christ at a young age and suffered mightily for the gospel. Now even this recounting is not totally free of pagan Catholic myth (though not some of the worst pagan nonsense that was developed around this preacher is in here) but the truth of a man who lived and suffered for the gospel of Jesus Christ is still here. Folks, “Santa Claus” is the main reason why Christmas is much more significant in the west than is Easter, a holiday which is much harder to separate from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lots of people think St. Nicholas is just another name for Santa Claus.

After all, Santa also is called “Father Christmas” and “Kris Kringle” and other names. Actually, “Santa Claus” is itself a mispronunciation of the Dutch name “SinterKlass,” which was their way of saying St. Nicholas.

But behind all the names is a boy who actually lived in what was then Lycia in the fourth century A.D., about 1,700 years ago. His name was Nicholas. There are many legends about this boy and the man he became, and behind those legends is the story of St. Nicholas.

When Nicholas was a little boy, a plague struck Patara, the town where he lived. Both his parents got sick and died, so Nicholas went to live with his uncle who was a monk in a monastery. His uncle, the abbot, taught him all about God and Jesus from the Bible. Nicholas wanted to become a monk when he grew up.

Nicholas’ parents were wealthy when they died and monks are supposed to be poor. So Nicholas resolved to give away all his money to help those who were needy, especially other children in trouble. He determined to be sneaky, so they would not know from where the money came. For example, a man was selling rugs to pay his debts. His wife and children had no food. Nicholas bought some Turkish rugs from the man, paying him much more than they were worth. Then, making an excuse, he gave the rugs back to the man’s wife.

The most famous story about his generosity involves three girls who could not get married because their father had lost all of his money and could not pay their dowry. The only option for these girls was slavery or, worse, prostitution. Nicholas heard about that and came up with a plan.

When the first daughter was ready to marry, he tossed a stocking full of gold coins through her bedroom window late at night. Using that as her dowry, she was able to marry. Soon after that, Nicholas tossed a sock full of money through the second daughter’s window. She, too, married.

But when Nicholas crept up to the house with a third sock full of money for the youngest daughter, he found all of the windows shut. So he climbed up on the roof of the house and dropped it down the chimney.

It landed in a stocking that had been hung on the fireplace to dry, giving us the tradition of hanging Christmas stockings.

After helping many people, Nicholas started having a strange dream. Not just once but several times — and always the same. In his dream, Jesus gave him a book of Gospels covered with jewels, and the robes of a priest.

When Nicholas told his uncle about the dream, his uncle told him that Jesus must want him to become a priest. Soon he did just that, even though he was still in his teens. As a priest, Nicholas was zealous to tell people about Jesus, and always looking for ways to help people in need or children in trouble. People talked about the kind “boy priest.”

Nicholas lived in a time when the Roman Emperor forcefully ruled much of the world. Nicholas went on a trip to see the Holy Lands. He sailed on a ship to Egypt, famous for its monumental temples and the library and lighthouse at Alexandria. But Egypt was in ruins; the Romans had persecuted and killed many people. Many others were left hungry and poor.

Nicholas also traveled to Palestine to see the places where Jesus had walked — but Jerusalem was also in ruins, the temple torn down and burned. That, too, had been done by the Romans. Nicholas visited with Christians and churches along the way, and encouraged them to help the poor and needy. While there, he had a dream that Jesus was placing a bishop’s crown on his head.

On his way home, the ship he was on got caught in a terrible storm. The ship was tossed and the rigging torn. Some of the sailors were lost at sea, others abandoned the ship and the three left were terribly afraid the ship might crash on the rocks, praying to God for mercy.

Nicholas came up on deck and joined them in their prayer. Just then, the storm stopped and the waters became calm. Very early the next morning, the little ship limped into the nearest port, a city called Myra-in Lycia, a long way from Nicholas’ home.

The three sailors told everyone how their ship had been saved when the young priest, Nicholas, had prayed with them.

“It was like a miracle!” they said.

Nicholas hurried off to a church for morning prayers, to give thanks.

The city of Myra had no bishop at that time. The previous one had died, and the remaining priests could not agree on who to elect as the new bishop. There were three priests at the church that morning, maybe more. They had been praying all night and each had had the same dream, that they were to make the first worshipper who came for morning prayers the new bishop.

Nicholas, a stranger in Myra, and still a youth (but a priest), was the first to arrive. How surprised he was when the priests told him he was to become the bishop. At first he hesitated, but they insisted, telling him of their dreams. Then he remembered his own dream.

So young Nicholas became the bishop of Myra.

Myra was an important city. As its bishop. St. Nicholas was known for his piety and zeal for Jesus and his holy church. When Nicholas taught the gospel, people said it was like receiving precious gems. He was equally concerned about the poor and needy, and helping children and others in trouble. He set a constant example, often helping people in secret ways. Many pagans were converted and baptized through his loving ministry.

But soon Nicholas was imprisoned.

The new Roman emperor, Diocletian, hated Christians and was determined to hunt them all down and kill them, or make them deny their faith. That was someone between 303 and 311 A.D. It was one of the greatest persecutions of the church; many Christians were cruelly tortured and murdered.

The three jailers guarding Nicholas tried and tried to convince him to deny his faith in Jesus. They tortured him. He was hungry and cold and wearing chains, but he taught them about Jesus and his church. He was kind to them, despite their insults. His hair and beard grew long and shaggy. In his suffering, he entrusted Jesus to protect him, and prayed for the other Christians to stand firm.

Eventually, things changed. A new emperor, Constantine, took the throne. He made Christianity the official religion of the empire. Nicholas and other imprisoned Christians were set free. Bishop Nicholas went back to his people in Myra, with his beard white and his face wrinkled.

His eyes sparkled when he talked about Jesus and the church, and he always had something for the poor and needy. He loved children and they loved him, too. Although he still was secretive about helping people, many knew about his kind deeds. But Nicholas could be firm, too — especially when false teachers would try to influence his churches.

In 325 A.D., 300 bishops gathered in the city of Nicaea to discuss the teachings of a man named Arius. He questioned Jesus’ divinity and his teaching had infected many — but not in Myra, thanks to Nicholas’ constant vigilance. Arius claimed that Jesus, as the son of God, was not eternal but created by the father as an instrument for the salvation of the world. Therefore, he was not God by nature, but a changeable creature.

Though Nicholas was not a major figure in the council, it is said that in the midst of the discussions, Nicholas actually slapped Arius for his false teaching. Because of that, some bishops wanted Nicholas removed as bishop — until Jesus and his mother appeared in their dreams and told them differently.

Nicholas died on Dec. 6, 345 or 352 A.D. Hundreds of churches have been named after him.

So this is the real St. Nicholas — an orphaned boy who became a priest and then a bishop. Who gave away all his wealth to the poor and especially to children in trouble. Who stood firm for his lord Jesus and his holy church in the midst of terrible persecution, and opposed false teachers as well.

A movie about the pastor of Myra has been made, but it has had trouble finding a distributor.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1058094/

Matthew Henry commentary

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

III. We must take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness in choosing the master we serve, Mat_6:24. No man can serve two masters. Serving two masters is contrary to the single eye; for the eye will be to the master’s hand, Psa_123:1, Psa_123:2. Our Lord Jesus here exposes the cheat which those put upon their own souls, who think to divide between God and the world, to have a treasure on earth, and a treasure in heaven too, to please God and please men too. Why not? says the hypocrite; it is good to have two strings to one’s bow. They hope to make their religion serve their secular interest, and so turn to account both ways. The pretending mother was for dividing the child; the Samaritans will compound between God and idols. No, says Christ, this will not do; it is but a supposition that gain is godliness, 1Ti_6:5. Here is,
1. A general maxim laid down; it is likely it was a proverb among the Jews, No man can serve two masters, much less two gods; for their commands will some time or other cross or contradict one another, and their occasions interfere. While two masters go together, a servant may follow them both; but when they part, you will see to which he belongs; he cannot love, and observe, and cleave to both as he should. If to the one, not to the other; either this or that must be comparatively hated and despised. This truth is plain enough in common cases.
2. The application of it to the business in hand. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is a Syriac word, that signifies gain; so that whatever in this world is, or is accounted by us to be, gain (Phi_3:7), is mammon. Whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is mammon. To some their belly is their mammon, and they serve that (Phi_3:19); to others their ease, their sleep, their sports and pastimes, are their mammon (Pro_6:9); to others worldly riches (Jam_4:13); to others honours and preferments; the praise and applause of men was the Pharisees’ mammon; in a word, self, the unity in which the world’s trinity centres, sensual, secular self, is the mammon which cannot be served in conjunction with God; for if it be served, it is in competition with him and in contradiction to him. He does not say, We must not or we should not, but we cannot serve God and Mammon; we cannot love both (1Jo_2:15; Jam_4:4); or hold to both, or hold by both in observance, obedience, attendance, trust, and dependence, for they are contrary the one to the other. God says, “My son, give me thy heart.” Mammon says, “No, give it me.” God says, “Be content with such things as ye have.” Mammon says, “Grasp at all that ever thou canst. Rem, rem, quocunque modo rem – Money, money; by fair means or by foul, money.” God says, “Defraud not, never lie, be honest and just in all thy dealings.” Mammon says “Cheat thine own Father, if thou canst gain by it.” God says, “Be charitable.” Mammon says, “Hold thy own: this giving undoes us all.” God says, “Be careful for nothing.” Mammon says, “Be careful for every thing.” God says, “Keep holy thy sabbath-day.” Mammon says, “Make use of that day as well as any other for the world.” Thus inconsistent are the commands of God and Mammon, so that we cannot serve both. Let us not then halt between God and Baal, but choose ye this day whom ye will serve, and abide by our choice.

Are we money masters or do we have money masters controlling our lives?  It is one or the other.  There is no neutral when it comes to money.

In his book Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller zeros in on this in his chapter Money Changes Everything. In a masterful dissection of the Almighty Dollar’s hold in a person’s heart with its various manifestations, Keller leads the reader to understand that addressing the surface issues won’t effectively kill our being mastered by money.  There is something deeper at work that uses things like money to obtain its desires.  It is this deep rooted issue that must be attacked.  The question becomes, “How do we get rid of this deep rooted idol?”  Keller offers this prescription:

This is why idols cannot be dealt with by simply eliminating surface idols like money or sex.  We can look at them and say, “I need to de-emphasize this in my life.  I must not let this drive me.  I will stop it.” Direct appeals like this won’t work, because the deep idols have to be dealt with a the heart level. There is only one way to change at the heart level and that is through faith in the gospel (p 66).

The solution to stinginess is a reorientation to the generosity of Christ in the gospel, how he poured out his wealth for you. Now you don’t have to worry about money – the Cross proves God’s care for you and gives you the security. Now you don’t have to envy anyone else’s money.  Jesus’s love and salvation confers on you a remarkable status – one that money cannot give you. Money cannot save you from tragedy, or give you control in a chaotic world. Only God can do that. What breaks the power of money over us is not just redoubled effort to follow the example of Christ. Rather, it is deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ, what you have in him, and then living out the changes that that understanding makes in your heart – the seat of your mind, will and emotions. Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding and identity, our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without a complete change of heart will be superficial and fleeting (p 68).

Här är han förresten; Mammon:

Gullig va? I länken kan man förövrigt läsa att den girige Montgomery Burns i the Simpsons bor på Mammon Lane. Jag borde nog försöka ta mig mer tid för Simpsons, det ser ut att vara ett högkulturellt program det där. Och visst är de lika?

Ange that was couldn’t accepted the insult from her friends was calling the seven purgatory and command them to kill all of her classmates. The seven Purgatory couldn’t do that because the level of anti-magic over there was too high, and Ange isn’t prepared yet for tainting her hands with blood.

Ange was angry and denied the existence of those furniture. so all of them had broken. (on Ange’s world)

Mariya that alawys left alone by her mother (Rosa-san) lost her house key, so she asked help from police, but her mother’s office told the police that Rosa was on a vacation,,,

a couple days again, some woman came to Rosa’s house and scolded her, because she’s too frequent left Mariya alone. Rosa angry with this, she kicked out that woman, and Scold Mariya with some violence,, -_-;; she even break Sakutaro,,

Mariya that was angry (cause of Sakutaro) asked Beato how to revenge and kill her mother,,

Ange that realized her mistake, admitted again the existence of the seven purgatory, and sakutaro, to help her arguing with Beato.

Ein paar Gedanken, die mir kamen, als ich diesen Text bei F!XMBR gelesen habe:

Komisch. Früher habe ich Science Fiction Bücher gelesen, in denen lebte die Menschheit relativ glücklich in einer Zukunft, in der alle die gleichen Chancen hatten, alle mehr oder weniger zufrieden waren und auch das Wissen frei zugänglich war – für alle.

Oder Täusche ich mich da jetzt? Gab es solche Bücher gar nicht? Vielleicht war das ja jetzt nur ein verzweifelter Traum von mir – zumindest in meinem Bücherschrank gibt es nur Werke, die von einer merkwürdigen Gesellschaft erzählen, die dem, was in dem Text von Chris gezeichnet wird, sehr nahe kommt – oder besser gesagt, wohl dem Anfang einer in diesen Büchern geschilderten Zukunft sehr nahe kommt.

Wissen? Nur für die, die es sich leisten können. Werbung, Tagein, Tagaus – natürlich alle Produkte auch nur für den, der sie sich leisten kann – alle anderen werden mit diesem „schönen Schein“ in dem Glauben bestärkt, es gebe einen Weg nach „oben“, dahin, wo man sich all das dann auch leisten kann.

Der Geist in der (Buchdrucker)Maschine hat Gott getötet – einen Gott, der einem ein Paradies versprach, natürlich erst nach dem Tod. Während des Lebens (das hatte nur zweitrangige Bedeutung, wichtig war nur, was danach kam) hatte man diesem Gott zu huldigen – durch Arbeit für seine Priester und den eigenen „Herrn“.

Die Aufklärung begann damit, dass zum Ersten Mal der einfache Mensch – Bauer, Handwerker, Lohnarbeiter, Frauen (vor der Aufklärung und noch lange danach waren Frauen nicht viel mehr als Gebärmaschinen und sowieso „Schuldig“, dank der „Frohen Botschaft“ der Bibel) – billig an Wissen kam (nicht „Billiges“ Wissen, das was uns heute tagtäglich in diversen Zeitungen und Büchern geboten wird, „Billig“ im Sinne von „ich habe dieses „Echte“ Wissen günstig und ohne irgendwelche Zwänge erworben“), durch das per Maschine kopieren von Büchern, Flugblättern und Zeitungen.

Und jetzt? Gott ist immer noch tot, aber ein anderer Gott – Gott Mammon – wacht langsam auf und führt den Menschen zurück in das Dunkle Zeitalter, in dem es Wissen, beziehungsweise „Information“ nur noch für den gibt, der dafür bezahlt und vor allem auch bezahlen kann.
Wer etwas wissen will, der erreicht das nur, indem er den neuen Hohepriestern dieses Gottes Opfert … und alle Ungläubigen – die, die tatsächlich der Meinung sind, es gäbe ein „Recht“ auf freie Information – die werden diesem Gott ebenfalls geopfert – man wird sie Einsperren, Brandmarken und – wer weiß, es kommen dunkle Zeiten – vielleicht bald auch Foltern und Hinrichten.

So, wie es in anderen Ländern schon passiert.

Bildung, das ist der Weg zum Wissen – und Wissen, das ist Macht. Natürlich darf der einzelne kleine Mensch nicht zu viel Macht haben (und Macht bedeutet heute immer auch Geld, wo dann wieder unser neuer Gott ins Spiel kommt), deshalb wird zuerst die Bildung erschwert oder zur Billigen (dieses mal im abfälligen Sinne von „billig“ gemeint) Bildung degradiert – wie man heute unschwer an zum Beispiel dem Bachelor beim Studieren sehen kann – und das Wissen, das man sich selber beibringen könnte, unabhängig von Universitäten oder Professoren, das wird so Teuer gemacht, das es sich nur noch eine kleine Schicht derer, die ihrem Gott genug opfern, leisten kann.

Irgendwie sind die Zeiten der Aufklärung vorbei – vielleicht ja für immer. Jetzt geht es wieder darum, das der Mensch – wie ein Tier – Dumm „gehalten“ wird, damit er nur ja nichts gegen seine „Herren“ unternimmt – was er nicht weiß, das bekümmert ihn auch nicht. Die, welche davon Profitieren sind die, die auch die Wa(h)re Macht haben – nicht irgendwelche Politiker, die immer noch der Meinung sind, sie würden etwas gestalten, sondern diese Hohepriester des Geldes. Das sind die wahren Gewinner, alle anderen – Wir – sind nur eine stumpfe Masse, die man wie Kühe Melken kann und dann schließlich zur Schlachtbank führt.

Schöne neue Welt.

(Bild: The worship of Mammon, Evelyn de Morgan, Wikimedia Commons.)

errr~~ i don’t really now, what i should commented on this epi~~ >.<
there's so much thinks that didn't get explained here,,, like what did Ange really do with one of the seven stakes, who's the one from seven stakes that turn into rock and break,,, T.T i think i should resume my Umineko game schedule,,,

Mariya looks like the victim of rosa here, she's always being left by rosa, and honestly, i didn't really get what's rosa's real job,, because all i saw was she's that sleeping with different guys,, -_-;;

it was explained here, that the bottle with letters that maria ushiromiya wrotes was original, but the strange point is there's more than 1 bottle, and in each bottle, it has different murderer story, but all of them written by mariya,,
well, if you see this on Anti-mystery point of view, it's because all of them was trapped in rokkenjima for all eternity, and repeated the days when they first come to Rokkenjima and die there,, -_-;;

Ekonomisk tillväxt är inte vägen till lycka. Ändå har politiker i någon sorts brist på bättre valt ekonomisk tillväxt som enda väg för att övergripande mäta framsteg. En väg som förutsätter att vi hela tiden producerar och konsumerar mer.

Som om det inte fanns utrymme för omfördelning av resurserna och att någon gång få känna sig nöjd med antalet prylar. Vi tillhör de 20 procent av jordens befolkning som förbrukar 86 procent av jordens resurser, men vi fortsätter att sträva efter mer!

All tillväxt är inte bra tillväxt. Det viktigaste är hur människor, djur och miljö mår. Mer pengar och ökad materiell välfärd är viktigt för dem som inget har, men för de flesta av oss som läser det här är mer tillväxt inget bra recept för mer lycka. En majoritet föredrar sänkt arbetstid framför höjd lön.

Tillväxtfotboll i Linköping. Den gröna målvakten har just räddat världen från ytterligare sparkar.

Om ekonomisk tillväxt verkligen vore bra som övergripande mål för samhället, så skulle följande tio tips framstå som fullt vettiga:

1. Stimulera brottsligheten, så att lås, galler, larm, kofötter, rånarluvor och övervakningsteknologi säljer bättre. Då får också glasmästare, vaktbolag och advokatfirmor ett lyft.

2. Avskaffa alla kvalitetskontroller på varor, så håller de garanterat sämre och behöver ersättas snabbare.

3. Misshandla dina nära och kära. Då ökar BNP och mängder av arbetstillfällen skapas av de ambulanser, poliser, rättpsyk, domstol och pappersarbete som krävs.

4. Fortsätt hitta sätt att skapa mera stress och neuroser, så att läkemedelsföretag, terapeuter och tröstgodisförsäljning blomstrar.

5. Stimulera att allt fler ytor upplåts till betald reklam, så går det mer pengar både till reklamen själv och eventuella köp orsakade av densamma. Varför inte lagstifta om obligatorisk reklam vid telefonsamtal och reklam “in your face, all over the place”?

6. Förbjud utlåning och delande på verktyg och maskiner, så att alla måsta ha varsin udda grej som man använder en gång vart tredje år.

7. Stimulera modetänkande och årsmodeller i fler branscher så att omsättningen ökar.

8. Förbjud bär- och svampplockning, grönsaksodling i trädgården och närproducerat. Tvinga ut folk till köpcentrum.

9. Kalhugg, dika ut och släpp ut mera växthusgaser, så får vi fler översvämningar att röja upp och återuppbygga efter, vilket kräver en väldig massa jobb.

10. Starta krig (men bara om du tror på snabb seger). Minns hur bland andra dåvarande statsminister Göran Persson öppet resonerade om huruvida kriget i Irak skulle bli bra eller dåligt för tillväxten, innan han bestämde sig för om han var för eller emot kriget.

Alltså: Får man drömma om en nyanserad tillväxtdebatt som inte bara handlar om att kortsiktigt maximera siffror? Ja, på högsta politiska nivå i Storbritannien och Frankrike får man numera det. Mammon är inte Gud.

Andra om tillväxt: Ställ om, Så blir du rik på miljön, Sasja Beslik, Kinas industri ökar takten, SD:s politik ett hot mot tillväxten, S-studenter tillväxtkritiska, GD ledare: Tillväxt istället för klimat, Idrottslag för tillväxt, KB, Fb, VA, SvD, NyT, GD, HG, SvD2, Sydsv, ETC, AB

The man absolutely beggars belief!

Jesus said you cannot love both God and mammon, for you will inevitably hate one and love the other. “God” does not mean some white-bearded dude up in the sky. “God” means truth, integrity, justice, and compassion. Mammon means money and fame. The trouble with the Democrats is that they attempt to love both, so they’re always in turmoil and confusion. The Republicans confine their love to mammon—to mammon alone. That’s why they’re able to be so disciplined. But it’s the path to ruin.

Jézus egy nap így szólt a tanítványaihoz:

Aki a  kicsiben  hű, az a  nagyban is  hű. Aki  pedig hűtlen a  kicsiben, az  a nagyban  is  hűtlen. Ha tehát a hamis mammonban nem voltatok hűségesek, ki bízza  rátok az igazi értéket? És ha a máséban nem voltatok hűek, ki adja oda nektek a tiéteket?
Egy szolga sem szolgálhat  két úrnak. Mert vagy  az egyiket gyűlöli, és  a
másikat szereti, vagy: ragaszkodik az egyikhez, és a másikat megveti.  Nem
szolgálhattok  Istennek  és  a  mammonnak.”  Hallották  mindezt  a  kapzsi
farizeusok, és  kigúnyolták  őt.  De  Jézus  kijelentette:  “Ti  igazaknak
mutatjátok magatokat az  emberek előtt,  de Isten  ismeri szíveteket.  Ami
ugyanis az emberek szemében nagy, Isten előtt semmiség.”
Lk 16,9-15

Elmélkedés:

Üdvösségünk történetét olvasva a szentírásban újra és újra  találkozhatunk
azzal, hogy Isten mennyire  hűséges, az ember  viszont mindig a  hűtlenség
bűnébe esik. Isten hűséges saját ígéreteihez és teljesíti azokat,  hűséges
ahhoz a  néphez, amelyet  kiválasztott, és  hűséges az  emberekkel  kötött
szövetségéhez. Ezzel szemben  az ember újból  és újból elpártol  Istentől,
megszegi a szövetség alapjául szolgáló törvényeket, és elfordul Istentől.
A mai evangélium arra figyelmeztet  minket, hogy ideje volna megtanulni  a
hűséget. Isten  feladatot  bíz  ránk földi  életünk  idejére,  a  szeretet
mindennapi megvalósítását  kéri tőlünk.  Ha hűtlen  módon nem  teljesítjük
kérését,  akkor  nem  fogja  nekünk  adni  a  mennyországot.  Az  üdvösség
elnyerésének feltétele az, hogy hűséggel teljesítsük emberi hivatásunkat!
(Horváth István Sándor) http://evangelium.katolikus.hu/

Imádság:

Istenem, keresselek vágyakozással,
vágyakozzam keresésedre,
találjalak meg szeretetemmel,
szeresselek megtalálva téged!
Megvallom Uram, s hálát adok neked,
hogy belém teremtetted képedet,
hogy reád emlékezzem, reád gondoljak,
téged szeresselek.
De az annyira eltörlődött vétkeim rátelepedésével,
annyira elhomályosult a bűnök füstjében,
hogy nem képes arra, amire teremtetted,
ha csak te nem újítod meg, s nem változtatod át.

__________________________________________________

Szójelentés:

A héber nyelvben a pénzre használt egyik szó a mammon. Az arámi eredetű szó először az Újszövetségben szerepel, ahol a nyelvészeti és etimológiai szövegkörnyezetétől függően több értelme is lehetett. Társadalomgazdasági, kulturális és vallástudományi szempontból a szélesebb értelmű „gazdagság” jelentést tulajdonítják neki. Némelyek a „megbízott” szóval, mások a héber matmon („kincs”) vagy a föníciai mommon („haszon”) szóval hozzák összefüggésbe, de a héber ממון („pénz”) szó megfelelőjeként is használatos lehetett már Jézus korában is. A mammon szó görög megfelelője, a mamonasz a Hegyi beszédben is szerepel (Máté evangéliuma, 4:24), valamint a hamis sáfárról szóló példabeszédben (Lukács evangéliuma, 16:9-13) is említi Jézus. A legtöbb bibliafordítás meghagyja az eredeti mammon formát.

Gentle readers (including my latest Blog Buddy, Barbara), I’m back. The Crone has had a lot going on, and very little time in which to report it. Details of the conference ( a triumph)  the car blow-up ( terminal, and involving a ride home in a tow truck), the flood (in the middle of the night) and the two flat batteries will  follow, but for now be satisfied with a report on the rugged and outdoorsy weekend enjoyed by the Crone and her sister, the Cackler.

 The Cackler blew in from Yorkshire, England, just as the Crone wrapped up a particulary packed week at work. It is hard to believe the two sisters sprang from the same gene pool. The Cackler is small, spare and has a whizzy metabolism. She sleeps little and likes to walk a lot. The Crone, as you know, has the habits of a sloth and is built to be static, not speedy.

The Cackler and the Crone

Hauled out of bed before dawn last Friday morning, the Crone decided to take her sister to the beach in the hope she could tire her out. The two repaired to Breezy Point in Calvert County, and joined two other early risers (welly-booted women of middle years–the menopausal find it hard to cling to the mattress, unless, of course, they are stuck to the sheets) and a whole lot of gulls.

A bit of a flap at Breezy Point beach

 The two would have had an invigorating walk were it not for the fact that the beach is closely monitored by Calvert County curmudgeons who first chased the sisters from the stretch of sand (deserted) in front of the caravans (deserted) and then charged them $8 each to walk along the remaining 100 yards of shale. The Cackler, being from a land where seaside walks are free and positively encouraged was outraged.

She recovered her cool somewhat when the Crone introduced her to the delights of shark-tooth hunting. The two then spent a Miocene age hunting for fossiled shark’s teeth by the bay shore. They did better than the other welly-booted women who had come equipped with sieves and plastic bags and all manner of fossil-finding accoutrements. Some of their spoils are below.

What's the Point? Shark's teeth from a long ago age

The Crone found the most teeth but the Cackler found the biggest one–a Thresher shark tooth according to the fact sheet begrudgingly supplied by the beach bully behind the Calvert County cash register.  Pursuing the prehistoric is curiously compelling. Once you find one tooth, you want to find more, or a bigger one, even though you have no use for the toothy treasures once you’ve brought them back from the beach. “What do you do with yours?” the sisters asked the welly-booted ones “Keep them in a jar in the bathroom” they replied and, in truth, there is little else one can do. Good fun to find them all the same.

By now convinced that they were both rugged and outdoorsy, the pair continued their exploration of Southern Maryland, travelling to Loveville MD to visit the Mennonite market.

Shame about the plastic bags

Pot mums

The Cackler was completely entranced, and was all for buying a bonnet and a buggy for herself. “I think we could be Amish” she said, stocking up on homegrown fruit and veg and buying a bird house that was probably mass produced in China. ” Look at us—we already live a simple outdoors life”  Hmmm. Only two hours later she was watching the Cake Boss marathon on TLC with a glass in her hand. She’s way more Mammon than Mennonite.

Das heutige Evangelium (Lukas 12,13-21) aus dem Gottesdienst schallt mir noch in den Ohren … Gebt acht, hütet euch vor jeder Art von Habgier…

Warum?

Weil auch die Glieder der Kirche nicht vor jeder Art der Habgier gefeit sind.

Angesichts der heutigen Frohbotschaft sollte man sich vielleicht einmal die Fragen stellen: Welches Verhältnis habe ich eigentlich zum schnöden Mammon? Lebe ich eine latente Habsucht; kaufe ich mir einen xten Rosenkranz weil ich ihn brauch oder weil er hübsch ist? Lebe ich auf das Geld bedacht, oder lebe ich wirklich nur auf Gott und den Nächsten bedacht? Wenn Letzteres, wie äußert sich das?
Ich denke in der heutigen Welt ist es gar nicht einfach, sich diese Fragen ehrlich und eindeutig zu beantworten. Die Menschen – ja ja auch die Katholiken – sind doch irgendwie alle mit diesem System verwoben. Ohne Geld können wir gewisse Dinge nicht kaufen und auch anderen Menschen nichts kaufen. Wenn man nicht gerade seine Lebensmittel selbst anbaut, würde man ohne Geld hungern, obwohl außerhalb der Städte die Felder voll sind. Also ist es erst einmal klar: Ja, wir stecken alle in diesem System drin! Pflegen wir das System mehr als unseren Glauben? Ließe es uns wirklich kalt, wenn man uns eines Tages vor die Wahl stellt: Entweder RFID Chip um kaufen zu können, oder gar nicht mehr kaufen?

Oh, jetzt komme ich doch noch auf dieses Thema: Die Apokalypse und der – vieler Meinungen nach – verdächtige RFID Chip. Man hört nicht mehr nur in einschlägigen Verschwörungsabteilungen davon, sondern mittlerweile auch unter vielen Christen. Es gibt ein Raunen und Gemunkel um dieses Thema RFID Chip und das Zeichen des Antichristen. Ein gewisser Mann namens Veith und ein gewisser Verlag namens Kopp pumpen jedes Jahr ihre zigfach veröffentlichten Meinungen zu diesem Thema ins Volk und verdienen dabei nicht schlecht. Bücher, die das Geld und die damit verbundene EU verteufeln, werden gerne gekauft. GEKAUFT, mit was denn? Mit Geld, mit EUro. Man gibt sein Geld also solchen Menschen, die es ja “ureigentlich” hassen und es in einer Tonne verbrennen? Das aber tun diese Menschen sicherlich nicht. Es ist schrecklich, wieviele Leute sich von solchen “Botschaftern” Angst einjagen lassen. Nicht etwa die Angst um ihr Seelenheil ist es, nein, dass ist kein öffentliches Thema mehr. Sondern Angst um – na um was? Genau, um ihr Geld und um ihren Besitz, den sie evtl. unter der EU verlieren könnten. Angst darum, eines Tages nichts mehr kaufen zu können.

Und wenn schon!

Gell, haben wir Christen etwa Angst davor, dass wir ohne RFID Chip nichts mehr kaufen und verkaufen können?

Sollten wir vor all dem Angst haben und gerade diesen Angstmachern noch mehr Geld zukommen lassen?

Ich denke: Nein! Da kauf ich lieber 2000 Bibelausgaben und trage sie nach Afrika, bevor ich den habgierigen Angstmachern auch nur einen Cent in die Tasche stecke.

Wir Katholiken brauchen vor all diesen Dingen keine Angst zu haben, selbst wenn sie genau so eintreffen, wie man sich das derzeit vorstellt. Wir brauchen keine Angst davor zu haben, dass uns das Geld ausgeht, wir sollten uns eher darüber Gedanken machen, dass wir in dieser verrückten Welt nicht habgierig werden! Diese Gefahr besteht weitaus mehr, denn es ist ziemlich einfach habgierig zu werden, selbst wenn man nur wenig oder gar kein Geld besitzt.

Sunday Morning October 4, 2009 By Bob Cote

Luke 16:13 “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon”

Who Are You Serving

Today, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, stood up at the Labour Party conference in Brighton and had a go at the bankers and their bonuses. So far, so populist. Pointing at naughty bankers, who do deserve to be brought down a peg or two, is simple legerdemain, making sure we don’t see that it is the neoliberalism incarnate in Thatcherism and Blairism that has been the driving force behind this chaos in the UK. We got our MPs expenses scandal (no progress is being made by the flimsy legislation that has come in to deal with the issue), but we haven’t been allowed to analyse the Government economic mismanagement scandal.

A long time ago, I read that money is the second most talked about issue in the gospels (after the kingdom of heaven). Christian moralising is so often hung up on sex, it has no energy left to deal with what seems to me to be Jesus’ bigger issue, Mammon. He is the personification of pelf and lucre. Stock markets have become his temples, bankers his priests, economists are his theologians. Their doctrines are ineffable and inscrutable, keeping us in the pews unaware of what they were up to. The more we ask the question ‘what is money?’, the more we realise that it is an abstract social agreement we no longer comprehend. Money actually isn’t any one thing, but a whole set of related ideas; it doesn’t exist in a coin or banknote, but they are just symbols of money. Doesn’t the whole thing sound not a little theological?

Although the perpetual-motion machine is an impossibility under natural law, it is the goal of economics. Bankers call themselves ‘wealth creators’ in defence of their usefulness. In fact, they are money creators, and they are debt creators. Their trick is to try to separate the money and debt they create so that we cannot see the immediate result of their money creation — that’s how the debts of poor US home-owners found their way around the world. Due to the trick of interest rates, there always has to be more money created to service the growing debt. Of course, this new money creates new debts, and…perpetual motion!

The specific problems with the neoliberal creed that this present crisis has highlighted is that the liberalisation of foreign direct investment has made the real economy much more difficult to control at a national level, privatisation has further weakened public control of key services, and deregulation has made what is controllable uncontrolled. Effectively, governments have rendered themselves incompetent because competence costs too much. It has also taken the reins off Mammon’s perpetual-motion machine. The economy must be under state control, and the state under democratic control, so that I am responsible within the commonality for the economy, not bankers nor stock brokers.

The consequences are clear: the poverty gap is increasing, the environment is denuded, and apathy abounds due to not perceiving what is happening and a feeling of helplessness. I remember during Thatcher’s reign that ministers interviewed on the telly always gave economic answers to non-economic questions. The trend has continued, meaning that government is all about economics. But here’s the problem, our recession ends when a couple of quarters of consecutive economic growth occurs: yippee! Unemployment and the deterioration of our social fabric continue for a long time after the share prices start to rise.

You cannot serve two masters. If a politician is serving the needs of money, they are not serving democracy.