The following little parable was plucked from the Internet:- 

At a hotel in a small town whose residents were all deeply in debt, a stranger checked in. Laying a $100 bill on the counter, he asked to check out the rooms first. Once gone, the owner grabbed the $100, and ran next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher, in turn, ran to settle his bill at the Co-op. The Co-op manager quickly took the $100 to the town prostitute, who’d also come on hard times, settling his bill for “services rendered”. The hooker rushed over to the hotel to pay her delinquent room bill. The relieved owner quickly placed the bill back on the counter just as the stranger returned. Finding the rooms unsatisfactory, he plucked his money from the counter, and left.   

No one actually produced anything. No one earned anything. Yet the town’s now out of debt, facing a more optimistic future! Laughingly dubbed a stimulus program, this “fair trade” parable demonstrates a favorite topic of mine. Economics arranged in CA’s.. Exchanges based on ”Creditable Activities.”   

Countries close banks, banks don’t close countries. How ironic that our staunchly “Christian” nation is run in large part by the very folks an enraged Jesus cast out of the temple! Surely points out the drive for justice and equity, that deeply spiritual aspect drawing tens of thousands to our streets - beginning at the “Wall.” Among them, workers, church goers of all stripes,  and human rights activists.  

Closing words from our own Peter Morales:- ”Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to join the Occupy Boston protesters in this city’s financial district. Unitarian Universalist ministers from several of our Massachusetts congregations came together to organize an evening vespers service at the Occupy Boston encampment, offering spiritual support and encouragement to the hundreds of souls gathered there.”   

The hundred dollars make its rounds again