Occupy Wall Street – A Sign of the Times

As I looked through the postings on my Facebook page recently, I came across an illustration titled, "The Original 'Occupy Wall Street' Protester." It got my attention since it made use of a painting depicting Jesus breaking up business as usual and running the money changers out of the Jerusalem Temple. Indignation, anger and perhaps frustration were certainly in order in response to those who brought their unethical business activities into the Temple courts. They were exploiting the religious devotion of poor people and all those who had made a pilgrimage to the Temple.  Jesus was not out of line or out of place in his very visceral expression of his feelings.  In fact, as always, he was right on time!

Ten years later, shoulder to shoulder

September 11, 2011, has come and gone, and I'm feeling that now, the heavy lifting begins again. The period of reflection and commemoration was as rich as it was long. There were ample opportunities to stop and reflect on the meaning of that tragic day 10 years ago.

For me the commemorative events got started early on Sept. 8 in Washington, D.C., at a press conference sponsored by an ecumenical/interfaith coalition called Shoulder to Shoulder.