A PROTEST-ANT CHRISTIAN

As a pastor and healer of sorts in the Air Force I was known as a protestant chaplain.  This, in spite of the fact that I was not much of a protester. The name came from Christians related to priests who protested some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. I never was a part or that or any subsequent rebellion. I do not have any active part in the current activities of protestors now achieving so much attention in New York, San Antonio or the many cities of the United States and major cities of the world. I am not that kind of protester.  However, as a Christ follower, I do have some sympathies for their essential message as I understand it. Jesus was clearly opposed to greed and always concerned with the plight of the sick, the thirsty, the hungry and "the least of these." He spoke the truth: "the love of  money is the root of all evil." We see what it is doing to our culture today.  He loved the wealthy and showed them how they could share with the poor. Today he is surely using the wealthy who are ministering to the needy through their money.  This includes at least some of the 1% our children in the streets are crying out against. May the Warren Buffet tribes of givers increase. The rest of us (the 99%) must find our ways to make the most of whatever life we are given. Our peace within depends on how we relate to the inequality we find throughout our culture. All religions have a strand of their belief system that says if we are to have peace we must treat others as we wish to be treated. Many of the irreligious know that as well.