From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste in images
THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2013
Ecclesiastes 5:10 warns Kenyan Members of Parliament against and consequences of love money: “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless”- For the love of money is the root of all evil, and it destroys men’s lives.
According to this saying, all immorality and wickedness is caused by money. It implies that all immorality and wickedness is caused by people loving money, not by money itself. Kenyans MPs should know that money is the means and not the end. In other words, having a lot of money is great, but having a lot of money should not be an ultimate goal.
Love of money is closely related to the lust. In the Book of Proverbs (Mishlai), among the verses traditionally associated with King Solomon, it states that the Lord specifically regards “six things the Lord hateth, and the seventh His soul detesteth”, namely:
1. A proud look
2. A lying tongue
3. Hands that shed innocent blood
4. A heart that devises wicked plots
5. Feet that are swift to run into mischief
6. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies
7. Him that soweth discord among brethren
Another list, given this time by St Paul’s letter to Galatians 5:19-21. It includes more of the traditional seven sins: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, “and such like”.
St Paul goes on to say that the persons who commit these sins “shall not inherit the Kingdom of God”, they are usually listed as (possible) mortal sins rather than capital vices.
Against the background that Civil Society equated MPs’ greed to pigs. They were not saying that MPs are pigs. They were simply comparing their bad character and behavior to that of the pigs.
Pigs have become synonymous with several negative attributes, especially greed, gluttony, and uncleanliness, and these ascribed attributes have often led to critical comparisons between pigs and humans.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells about the youngest son coming to his father to ask for his inheritance ahead of time. He then took the inheritance and ran away to spend it all on having a good time. He had plenty of “friends” to help him spend it but quickly ran out of his inheritance funds.
Then he was reduced to working in a pig pen and the pigs ate better than he. For a Jew, to tend to pigs was the height of humiliation since they were deemed unclean according to the Old Testament dietary laws.
Kenyan demonstrators released a litter of pigs and poured blood on the pavement outside the gates of parliament in Nairobi to protest a proposed law that would raise wages for parliamentarians.
Police and parliament officials chased the pigs after using tear gas, batons and water cannons to disperse the nearly 250 protesters who marched through downtown Nairobi and sat down at the entrance to parliament.
The names of specific MPs have been written on the bodies of some of the pigs. Yet Kenyan parliamentarians are already some of the best paid on the continent. In January, parliamentarians voted themselves a $107,000 send-off bonus, their last work before parliament closed ahead of elections, after earlier efforts to grant themselves the windfall were vetoed by the then President Mwai Kibaki.
Like Orwell’s Animal Farm where the animals revolted against the cruel human leaders and set up a better method of farm management where all animals are equal, the protesters wanted the MPs recalled back so that Kenyans can vote leaders who can serve them and not leaders who enrich themselves.
In Orwell’s Animal Farm, as time passes, the new leaders become greedy and corrupt, and the other animals realize conditions are just as miserable as before. The pigs are one of the most significant of these connections, representing the communist rulers of Russia, like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky.
In the novel Animal Farm, the pigs represent the communist leaders of Russia in the early 1900s. In Buddhism the pig is a symbol of ignorance. In ancient Christian symbolism the pig is symbol of greed. Jewish, Moslums and Islamic cultures view the pig as unclean and they are forbidden to eat pork.
The following are my suggested biblical texts for MPs to reflect upon
1 Timothy 6:10-For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Hebrews 13:5-Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Luke 12:15-And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Matthew 6:24-“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:31-33-Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
1 John 3:18-Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
2 Timothy 3:2-For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.
1 Timothy 6:9-10- But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Romans 13:9- For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 6:19-21-“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Corinthians 7:1- Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Romans 5:8-But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John 14:15- “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Proverbs 23:4-5-Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. Proverbs 13:11- Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Revelation 2:4- But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Luke 16:19-31- “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.
Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
Proverbs 30:8-9- Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 28:20-A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Proverbs 23:4-Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 1 John 2:15-Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 Timothy 6:9-11-But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Luke 12:15-21-And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
Real contentment will not be found in the riches this world has to offer, but only when we can be happy with what we have, and not believing it is in what we do not have (Heb. 13:5). Real contentment will be found when the Lord blesses those whose hunger is for righteousness and not material goods (Matt. 5:6).
Solomon himself learned this lesson the hard way, after many attempts to find happiness in material pleasures (Eccl. 2:4-10). His conclusion was that it was all “vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 2:11).
Real treasure is not the riches the world sees, but we can hold one great treasure in our hands: the word of God (Psa. 19:10). The psalmist said it best when he said of the word of God, “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
In the precious words of God are found things more valuable than any earthly treasure, for these are the words of life (John 6:63); these are the words by which we may be saved from our sins (Acts 11:14); these are the words given to us by God that we might know His will and the very words that will judge us in the end (John 12:47, 48)! Our MPs and all of us need these words!
GOD BLESS KENYA
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
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Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ UN Disarmament Conference, 2002