Amos

I have reclaimed my interest in the Bible. After, as per my previous post, being unimpressed with what was formerly my favorite section, I felt like replacing it on the dust shelf. I figured, however, that Amos was only nine chapters, and that I should make a bit more progress before moving on. Wow.

It is provident that I read it immediately after reading a relevant portion of Jim Wallis' God's Politics, with which I have been so far only mildly impressed. Amos, as it happens, speaks precisely to Wallis' message of social justice. Take this striking example: "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan / who are on Mount Samaria, / who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, / who say to their husbands, / "Bring something to drink!" (4:1). I know these women! They often, even , claim to be liberal activists, while shopping at Terra Verde and spending obscene amounts on flowing garments. Or this: "Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, / and lounge on their couches, / eat lambs from the flock, / and calves from the stall; who sing idle songs to the harp . . . who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with finest oils" (6:4-6). I also know these men. Surely it is an obscenity in the face of God to spend vast sums on moisturizer, even thousands of dollars on decorative acoutrements for the house and yard, while even a single soul is hungry.

It is therefore a credit to me that I own nothing but what the universe has dropped on me, and it is a shame on me that I have been so phenomenally ungrateful. Thank you to God, Tao, JEHOVAH, the universe, whoever you are today. I have a new appreciciation for what Amos means when he identifies you repeatedly as "The God of hosts." Surely we are your guests, each and every one of us, and should behave accordingly. And you are only our God to the extent to which we ourselves are hosts, to the level of our hospitality for our fellow guests.