Now you know why you didn't get a check, you are still alive!

That would be correct folks. It is Monday, October 18, 2010. It is that day that people everywhere dread. Heigh ho heigh ho, it's off to work I go typically sung with a sad refrain. Maybe not. Perhaps that is not the way we see it today given the horrendous economic situation we are living through. Maybe those of us who have a job are singing that tune with a spark in our voice and a spring in our step. That makes we wonder why they don't make some of those tennis shoes for adults that light up and sparkle when you walk or jump up and down. That would be really neat, don't you agree? I remember a number of years ago a local famous consumer advocate (Marvin Zindler) was shown on television trying to convince the US Social Security worker that the man sitting beside him was very much alive even though their records indicated he was dead. The man had been several months without his retirement checks and had not been able to get his problem resolved. Well, well, well. That didn't happen to our current administration when it came time to hand out the stimulus checks. They sent out checks to 72,000 dead people and not to be topped by that, they also sent checks to 17,000 people serving time in prisons. Just so you know, the actual bill did not approve for dead people to get checks and it specifically prohibited payments to those incarcerated. Total amount of this oversight was 18 million dollars. Total recovered thus far is less than half. Total that will be spent trying to recover the remainder, Lord knows but we can guess it will likely far exceed the 18 million. Sure, I know the 18 million in the government's eyes is like 1.8 cents to them, but I can't help but remember how that local social security guy tried to dodge the issue about the man being alive when he was in fact sitting in front of him.

It reminds me of that Jerry Clower story about the fellows out in the cemetery taking down names the day before the election. In explaining their reason for doing this they said they believed in the right to vote for every individual and they were just doing their part to make sure no one was left out. We might laugh about that but I have a recollection of his first election to congress where some dead people's votes made the difference in Lyndon Johnson winning. The rest, as they say, is history. We live in a world where deceit is how things get done. There is a head coach of a major university who is well known for his lying. He lied to his previous school about whether he was going to leave. He has lied many times about important things that are actually on tape showing exactly what he did and what he said. Yet, because he has a winning record, all is overlooked. A few weeks ago I read about a computer spying operation that was busted. They had taken millions from their targets. This one was pretty clever. Instead of doing anything to mess up a person's computer, all they wanted was to capture keystrokes. It was more or less a recording of what the target PC was doing. Once they retrieved that data they could then dissect it and access the user's bank account or credit cards. Some of them will do time but when they are released they will be recruited and paid as experts to help folks prevent what they were able to do. When I think about this I can hear Granny Mac warning us: "You can't do wrong and get by."

That is always a perplexing question when folks who try to do right struggle while those who play loose and fast with the truth seem to prosper. There's a song that comes to mind that sets forth this puzzling paradox. The title is "Farther Along." It's not Father Along as thought by one of our song leaders when I was growing up. He always used it on Father's Day. The first verse goes: "Tempted and tried we're oft made to wonder, Why it should be thus all the day long, While there are others living about us, Never molested though in the wrong." The chorus answers this way: "Farther along we'll know all about it,  Farther along we'll understand why, Cheer up my brother live in the sunshine, We'll understand it all by and by." This is a question that has no doubt caused concern for faithful folks throughout time. The Apostle Peter said in his second letter that those deceiving preachers taking advantage of people for evil purposes are not going unnoticed by God and He will deal with them in His own good time. (See 2 Peter Chapter 2) Essentially, the bottom line says this about God. He knows how to deal with evil and He knows how to reserve the ungodly for punishment of their ungodly deeds. For those who are faithful but struggle in this life, we read that God's opinion of them is that the world they live in is not worthy of them. (See Hebrews Chapter 11) Thankfully, you and I who have put our trust in Christ can depend upon the payment He made on our behalf, therefore, we will face God as His very own beloved children, not stand with those who have rejected Him and prospered in their evil doings. It's not an us against them story. It is a truth claim that we stand upon that gives us something to rejoice about regardless of how things might play out in our day by day living. Amen.              .....More later.