St. Nicolai Notes

EXCHANGES ON THE WAY: LENTEN PRAYERS
Day 17: Third Monday
Mark 10:17-31 (especially 17-22)

     Many of us are rich, Jesus. Many of us are among the top one percent in income* and the top ten percent in wealth,** in the world, but we deny our wealth, deny that we are rich, by comparing ourselves with our closest neighbors or with those who have such abundant wealth that we seem like paupers by comparison.
     Because we have been blinded by our social setting, and other factors, to our wealth, we do not recognize the ways in which we are deceived*** and controlled by what we possess. We do not perceive the ways that our wealth creates drag and even outright resistance to your call upon our lives. We do not perceive how our wealth often contributes to injustice and causes others to suffer.
And we aren't much inclined to give up too much of it in order to follow You, Jesus.
     Enable us to see ourselves in the larger context of the world that You created and love. Enable us to break free of some of the thorns of wealth that choke our vitality and diminish our ability to follow You in freedom. Enable us to do whatever You call us to do in order to follow You with unencumbered hearts and minds. Amen.

* $32,500, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050615/are-you-top-one-percent-world.asp
** $93,170 U.S. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/07/how-much-money-you-need-to-be-in-the-richest-10-percent-worldwide.html
*** Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19