Market Day - March 18
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; PM Psalm 73 ; Jer. 22:13-23; Rom. 8:12-27; John 6:41-51
In the third grade at my son’s school, they have what is called “Market Day.” Each student designs and builds something that they can make in bulk and then sell at the school market. My son, Jack, has made keychains that are attached to Lego figurines. They are displayed on a festive tree and students can purchase them for $3 dollars of some fake money with the principal’s face on the bill.
As we were carrying his project to school on Tuesday morning, Jack and I were talking. I kept asking, “well how much did you spend on the Legos?”
“Dad, leave me alone. It’s fine.”
“But if you spent more than $3 on each keychain, then the project doesn’t make sense. The goal is to make money!”
“Dad, it doesn’t matter what we spent.” He kept getting more and more frustrated. “I just have to sell my product!”
We were both agitated, and finally, I just snapped. “The goal is to make as much money as possible!” To which he responded.
“No, it’s not! And with the turning of his head implied that we are going to end this conversation now. He can be pretty persuasive.
And I left Jack at school that morning, worried that maybe he is struggling to understand one of the most basic tenants of free life. Spend less money than you make! And then I read Jeremiah less than an hour later to begin preparing for today’s reflection.
In Jeremiah, the prophet is explicitly critical of the king of Judah. In today’s passage, the prophet exclaims, “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages.” Jeremiah continues with his critique of the dishonesty of the king’s leadership. Notice, that Jeremiah is not critical of people working for him, and Jeremiah is not even critical of the king’s nice things, but he is critical of how he has arrived at where he is. As a leader, his treatment of those he is responsible for is his ultimate judgment as king and rule, not what is amassed. His “spacious house with large upper rooms, … paneling it with cedar, and painting it with vermillion” are not what is valued. He cannot be considered successful if the people around him are not thriving too.
I still think Jack has a number of things to learn about business, but what if our goal in life is not what we can produce, or the value we can extract from the earth, but instead our care for the people whose lives we touch or empower. And maybe when we put the focus on how we can care for others, we can still bring home a little profit, but we have started from a much better place. At least Jeremiah will be happy.
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: How do you value success in life? What metrics have you used in the past? How have those been helpful? Where have they been problematic? What do you most often overlook?
Daily Challenge: See if you can make a list of people who depend on you in your life. Identify three tangible ways that you can improve their well-being.