"Just me talkin..."

Mostly, on 'low Sunday'--which is what Episcopalians call the Sunday after Easter since there seems to be an unwritten rule that it's OK to skip church that day--I talked about the Apostle Thomas.

But I did mention the remarkable lesson from Acts. I'll see if I can copy it here.

Acts 4:32-35
4:32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.
4:33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
4:34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.
4:35 They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

My Lord, I did it!!!

Maybe I'm not the total Anti-geek I think I am.

So, this is an account of how the first generation of the church lived. "all things in common" and "distributed to each as had any need",

Living in a country, I said, (paraphrasing myself) that has more than enough wealth to allow everyone to live in comfort, we live as two separate people--the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. If we were true to the faith we profess, we would be 'the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and one soul' and 'everything we owned would be held in common.'

And, the world would be transformed, I said.

And then I said, "spoken by a left-wing, leaning socialist. It's just me talkin'...."

I relayed what I said to a group of clergy and one lay person who meet most Tuesday mornings. Someone said, "You didn't say that!"

"Sure I did," I said, "and they laughed.

 And then Michael, who worked with me for several years at St. John's, Waterbury, said, "I sometimes use Jim's famous tag-line: it's just me talkin'....

It works, beloved. Saying, "it's just me talkin'...," takes the sting out of things I truly believe but don't want people to think I'm saying it's gospel truth.

Though I do believe that the earliest church was socialist. And I do believe we should be as a people.

Bern and I bring in well over $110K each year and we're retired. Both our children and their spouses bring in 3 or 4 times that much. Comfortable and more.

A mother with two children in CT, which has the 4th best welfare system in the country, with welfare payments, Medicaid, food stamps and other supplements, live on $38,000.

And in a land where there are billionaires a plenty, how is that right or fair or spiritual in any way? The Trumps and a single mother of 2 in CT. Think it through.

Tell me?

Just me talkin....

Left-wing and socialist-leaning for sure....