Con-man for the Kingdom

I love this ironically twisted story of the shrewd steward. If only I could engage the same cleverness and energy toward the kingdom of God that I apply to frivolous things! Or to adorn my soul with the care, expense, and attention to detail that an actress prepares to walk the red carpet on Oscar night! How skillful the con-man compared with the naive "children of light!"

Of course this is another Lukan story of absolute forgiveness. Only God could appreciate the gifts of the consummate con-man in such a way as the master does in this story. Although the implication is that we, too, must also forgive lavishly.

My thoughts went in several directions this week.Commendation of the steward: I thought first of Bishop Nonnus and the story of Pelagia the Harlot, how the adornment of her body (even her bare feet!) inspired him to pray for himself and his clergy, that they might take the example of Pelagia as a goal for adorning their souls (meditation one). You can not worship God and money: I thought of Belle releasing Scrooge from his engagement to her, a dowerless girl, as his idol has now become gold rather than love (meditation two). And being dishonest in little things made me think of Dorothy Day's experience in prison in 1917 when she realized the irony of society punishing dishonesty in little things but commending it on the successful corporate scale

from - http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/proper20c.html