The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd. – Zechariah 10:2

Today's Scripture Reading (October 12, 2023): Zechariah 10

Shortly after I got married, I continued my university education while my wife worked at a local nursing home. One day, one of the residents read my wife's tea leaves (to be honest, I am not sure exactly how the prophecy came about, just that my wife informed me that it had happened). But this woman from the nursing home foretold my wife's future. I still remember the words that my wife brought home to me. According to this prophet, Nelda and I "would be happy but poor all the days of our lives." It is a relatively genetic prophecy. Most of us hope we will be happy, and the word "poor" contains different meanings for different people. I am not sure that anyone thinks they are rich; we hope that we will have enough to live in our society in a way that makes us comfortable. But part of our struggle is that our society is affluent, and so, by comparison, we often feel like we are poor.

Screenwriters, auto workers, and actors have recently gone through fairly public strikes, wanting more money and better working conditions. They strike for better health care and retirement benefits, which the workers feel they deserve. And I don't doubt that their demands are reasonable. But at the same time, we need to recognize that we really are the lucky ones. There are poor in our world who would think they were in heaven if they could receive only a portion of what these workers are making that has been deemed insufficient by their strike.

All of this argues that poverty is relative. We are poor if we have less than someone to whom we are comparing ourselves, which means that the vast majority of us are poor and rich at the same time.

Decades have passed since this secular prophetess extended her words to my wife. I don't believe them, but at the same time, I haven't forgotten them. And I have had conversations with Christians who have had similar experiences. A while back, a Christian commented that while he didn't believe in Astrology, he was always surprised at how accurate the predictions were. And that is the problem. Entertaining the thought, or even reading Astrological predictions for entertainment, opens our lives to something false that has the potential to harm us.

It is the message behind Zechariah's comment that idols speak deceit and diviners see visions that lie. Our reality is that even though we know they lie, we still have a habit of clinging to the predictions that they make. As a result of these lies, we often don't understand who we should believe, and we become sheep without a shepherd and people without a clear direction. And we can't blame that lack of direction on anyone but ourselves.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Zechariah 11

Personal Note: Happy 84^th Birthday, Mom