st. louis of france, in an election year

as the american political conventions start their circuses, i thought this quote from t. ralph morton's the household of faith might be appropriate:

"the place where we are free to choose and the place where our freedom of decision is most effective in in the use of our money. many of us are not free to choose how we use our time. the use of most of it is determined by the work we do and few of us are our own masters there. the use of the rest of our time--our leisure time, so called--depends ultimately on the use we make of our money. for the most determining thing in our lives is not our opinions but the way we use our money. it's the way we spend our money that determines the kind of life we live and not, or at least not in the case of most of us, the choice of a particular kind of life that determines how we spend our money we may think at the start of our adult lives that we decide the pattern on which we are going to live but very soon we find that it is determined by the things we think we need. that was, presumably, what jesus meant when he said: 'where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'" (p.114)

of course the theology of the collect for the feast of st. louis,

"o god, who called your servant louis of france to an earthly throne that he might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for your church and love for your people: mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through jesus christ our lord, who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one god, for ever and ever."

is completely politically incorrect these days. religious thinking, in the sense that religion means binding things together--re-ligio--is out. separate categories of political thinking and economic thinking and appetite-fulfillment thinking leaves a little time left over for what it's popular to call "spirituality thinking." but if jesus is telling the truth, our hearts are likely to be found in some strange and nasty places.