Had Enough

Too much of the scorn of the indolent rich, and of the derision of the proud.

 - From Psalm 123

The Psalmist, speaking for the Hebrews, has had enough. David was not the writer of this one. Perhaps someone wrote it during the time of Nehemiah, when the people were being mocked for building a wall.

The on-line dictionary defines "indolent" thus: "wanting to avoid activity or exertion, lazy."

So it's not just any rich people: it's "lazy" people. And people today, in the year 2017, have forgotten that there are different kinds of rich people. Just as no person fits into a neat partisan package. The industrious and charitable rich person is okay. But we don't care about that. We want to hate all rich people. I guess because it's so easy to hate, and blame others for our problems (what indolent poor people do). 

But we know the feeling: doing what's right, but being mocked for it. And of course a great mass of people in the middle of society are going to take the side that results in the least pain. We want to be comfortable. We don't like surprises, and we just want to be left alone. So that, the winner in any society is whatever sliver of a movement wants to work the hardest, get organized, and use the dirtiest tricks to intimidate people. 

Before you know it . . . just a handful of people are left, setting the proper example, doing the right work, and having very little to show for it. 

But in the time of this Psalm, people had had enough. This had been going on for generations. A prosperous and free nation had fallen into decadence and self-absorption, and materialism. When followers of the Lord tried to remind the nation of the values, and the practices, that got them to such a point of comfort, the majority rose up to denounce these troublemakers. 

Why do people do that? Why do they so hate such attitudes as selflessness, self-discipline, and devotion to the Creator? Why do they not care, even if society begins to crumble about them?

Well, that's a point for discussion, and perhaps the readers of this post today will engage with a few of their own comments. 

Had enough?

You're in good company.