Jesus Washed Our Feet

 In the Gospel of John, at the Last Supper, Jesus did something different from what the other Gospels told. He washed the disciples' feet. But what did washing their feet mean? Aside from the obvious meaning that he who washes others' feet is a servant, and so, to imitate the Master, we should all be servants of each other, there seems to be another layer of significance. Peter did not want his Master to wash his feet, to take a subservient position as one of lesser status. But Jesus said that if He didn't wash his feet, he would have no part in the Kingdom. What does it mean to wash your feet? 

 The obvious meaning is to remove the dust of the road and the sweat of travel, allowing one to rest from the day's efforts. Leave your troubles of work and worry at the door, so you can prepare and enjoy your supper. So, is there a spiritual parallel to this mundane aspect? The early church practiced this on a regular basis. It must have meant something to them. 

 The Jews regularly washed their hands before each meal, to remove any incidental uncleanness. But this didn't necessarily mean to remove ordinary dirt, or simply pouring water over the hands would have been a poor method of cleansing. To remove dirt and grime, you have to scrub with soap. This had a ritual meaning. It seems likely that foot washing would have had a similar kind of meaning. 

 There is a not-so-subtle theme in Christianity saying that this world is not our home, but is an actual hindrance to holiness and virtue. The passage through the world involves us in worldly concerns and necessities, including the needs of our bodies to survive and then to raise our families. It is rarely easy to meet these requirements while maintaining a spotless morality, much less holiness, in our daily lives. The world and its systems are not set up for such expectations, and often demand compromises that cause us to come up short of our intentions. And then, there are certain influences that actually try to resist our intent to be good, like temptations to pander to our flesh, or to take advantage when we shouldn't. That is why Jesus made the distinction saying that although we are in the world, we should not be "of" the world, but different. And the world will despise and persecute us for that difference, because it strikes their conscience and denies them their profit. 

 So our daily walk down the road tends to cover our feet with earthly dust. We may try very hard to maintain a right demeanor and observe both the Law and Holiness, but it's just too complicated to consistently do everything perfectly. Even Saint Paul said, "the good that I would do I do not, and that which I would not, that I do." He saw this dilemma and called it a "thorn of the flesh." So long as we remain in this world, we shall contend with powers that wish to thwart our best intentions. 

 For this reason, there has always been a few who try to withdraw from the world, as hermits and monastics, so as to limit their exposure to temptation and instead organize their lives after a pattern that allows a more spiritual walk. They choose a life of prayer without ceasing and service to others, giving up all concern for bodily comforts and focusing on salvation, their own and the world's. But celibacy is not a vocation for everyone, or Christians would become extinct and the Gospel would not go out to all peoples. 

 Rather, Jesus asked the Father not to take us out from the world, but to send us the Holy Spirit, so that we should not be alone in the world. We are here to be a lamp to light the way for those who seek Truth, and a leaven to help our cultures to rise up toward better ways to live. But He also warned us against letting the world weaken our pursuit of righteousness. We must be the salt of the earth, never losing our flavor, or we risk being tossed out in the dirt. Jesus gave us the Spirit, and then promised that He would always be with us to guide and strengthen us, even unto the end of the Age. 

 So what is this foot washing business? Why did Jesus say that it was so critical to our being able to enter the Kingdom? We should wash each other's feet to remind ourselves to be humble servants, yes, but also to signify that we should be helping each other to put off the contamination of the way of the world. We must strive to help those in need, so that they can deny any undue concerns for themselves, both by our teachings and by sharing with them our daily bread. We should make sure that they do not need to sin from despair of meeting their own needs properly. Foot washing reminds us that we are one body with each other. We should care, like a family, as a community, sharing from each whatever we can bring, and to each whatever they may need, and providing employment for those who lack the dignity of wages. 

 In such a community, we can help each other to increase our practice of righteousness. We can observe and correct one another, when we step out of line. "Speak to one another in love" as Paul said, but not in judgment or condemnation. Jesus said, "judge not, lest you be judged," for with the measure you mete, so you also will be judged. If you see a "mote in your brother's eye," look first to be sure that you don't also have the same problem. Solve your own problem first, then help your brother with his. If you have fixed your own character, you will know how to help him better, and you will avoid being a hypocrite. This is yet anothet way to put off the old ways of the world, and become a new people in Christ. We lead each other with kindness and love, reserving judgment for the sake of compassion, but helping one another to strive to be the best lamps and leaven that we can be. And when the world despises us, we have each other, as well as the Holy Spirit and Jesus to give us strength.

 So, in the Gospel of John, at the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, He washed their feet, and through them the feet of all the future believers whom they would call. Jesus wants us to be able to put off the dirt and corruption of this world, and to live in community as brothers and sisters of one big family, sharing and caring for each other, and teaching one another how to live out our faith. That is the core of the Kingdom of God that He came to establish among us. Without that community, we may never be able to see the Kingdom spread out upon the Earth, and we will all look like hypocrites. But, indeed, if we are living as we should, we will show the unbelievers that it is possible to be in the world and still be pleasing to God. We will be truly the Light of the world.

What is Really of Value?

Part 1.
What can we say is really of value to Humanity?  What are the things for which we willingly perform laborious tasks in order to acquire them? Such things are those which can enhance our likelihood of being able to survive, raise families and further our livelihoods and comforts. And they should help to improve the general progress of our society and culture. These are real needs, such as those below:

1. Resources: extracted & renewable
2. Labor available & works in progress
3. Expendable energy
4. Arable land
5. Tools
6. Seeds
7. Fertilizers
8. Water
9. Food
10. Shelter & clothing
11. Stockpiles of existing created value
12. Intellectual values & labor efficiency

Money is not real value. Only the things that you need, which will sustain life into the future, are real values. Scarcity does not imply value, but only forces competition. Posession, without an agreed plan for generosity, forces cooperation or provokes violence. That is why history has been so full of wars and crime. We have been forced to create interdependence and to exploit each other, just to insure that we have the means to survive. And all of that was because of scarcity.

It has been wisely noted that the one thing we all need, or at least we all depend on someone who has it, is land. We need land to grow food, and for a place to call home. There are now so many people that the demand for land is about to become critical. But today, we have a possible way out. The various space programs will soon be able to make new worlds available, and we can use the materials found there to build colonies, new lands, in space. It will take time. We must be patient, and be willing to work and invest in the effort.

But pursuing the development of space is the only way to prevent the chaotic disasters of famine and the barbarous crimes of violence that must ensue from the ecological collapse that overpopulation will cause. This would be inevitable, if we had no hope, and no place to go. But developing space can help us to prevent all of that.

What we need to do is only barely possible today, but technology grows from both the visions of optimism and the demands of necessity. We can learn how to do this. It only takes a collective will to support the titanic efforts to reach for a foothold and work there until it becomes self-sustaining. Then we can begin to truly build the future.

In that future, there will be jobs for everyone, because the demand for building new lands will be unlimited, and the need to continuously maintain and improve these colonies in space will never end. We can find and extract all of the materials we will need on the Moon, on Mars and among the asteroids and outer planets. Everything we have here on Earth originally came from space, and there is plenty remaining out there, waiting for us to come and find it.

In the future, our interdependence will be, not for exploitation, but because the need for a vast variety of skills and knowledge will require that we work together. That is how we will build new worlds, where everyone is valued and respected. These worlds will be full of abundance, where we are valued for our contributions and sharing of society's values. We will have built Eutopia.

It is obvious and self-evident that space is the final frontier. What hasn't been said, however, is that there are so many resources to be found that there will be a long era of one "gold rush" after another. Every new place will have new resources, and new lands, and new cities built up to serve the prospectors and miners. Yes, there may be a few busts, and a ghost town or two, but civilization will progress, and we will learn how to make apparently desolate places bloom to become beautiful cities surrounded by gardens of plenty.

Part 2.
[ https://phys.org/news/2021-05-scrap-cash-bronze-age-witnessed.html ]
*Scrap for cash: The Bronze Age measured & recycled its scrap metal to use as "money"*

The use of scrap metal as an ancient medium of exchange agrees with the suggestion that resources, works in progress and tools are actually things of value, suitable to be used as payment in exchange for labor or goods. Bronze is an alloy of 90% copper and 10% tin, both of which are mined resources. And recycling the broken scrap makes possible an industry, even at small scales, for creating needed tools or useful items. Using scrap saves a lot of labor, too, so it represents a work in progress: a material very near the casting of a completed tool. The observation that these pieces of scrap were chopped up into standard weights shows that it was used as cash whenever it was not immediately needed for making something.

If a person agrees to be paid in recyclable scrap, it is the equivalent of giving him a share of his productivity. As a standardized form of barter, the value of other goods is estimated in terms of how much labor and materials are invested in their production, in comparison to that required in the production of a given weight of alloyed metal, which can be repurposed as needed. For example, a bushel of wheat represents a significant investment of seed and labor, which might be equated with that needed to produce a handful of copper, or to import a small amount of tin. So a good bit of bronze might be worth several bushels of wheat. The costs and labor can be reasonably estimated. The only problem with the system being that recycling is never 100% efficient, so the bronze will be slowly diminishing. If you don't urgently need a new item of bronze, it's better to not recast it into standard shapes, and just leave it as irregular bits of scrap.

Using bronze metal as a medium of exchange is more rational, as value for value, than using official government produced coins or notes for cash money. Money is susceptible to market influences of scarcity or glut that can skew the "currency value" out of proportion to the actual "goods value" of the commodities being traded. This can lead to various abuses, such as hoarding or usury and speculation. Of course, valuable materials can be stockpiled, but their value only becomes apparent when they are distributed as payment for goods or services.

Part 3.
The use of precious metals for coins as currency grew out of barter in an economy of abundance, when useful goods began to be exchanged for high status luxury items. You can't eat gold, nor can it be used for making tools, but it can be used for jewelry. Indeed, the hoarding of gold can be a way to raise one's status and thus one's importance in the community. Gold thereby becomes an artificial mode of displaying one's wealth, and is jealously guarded and coveted.

At this point, the government steps in and begins to collect and stockpile gold. The king must be recognized as being highest in status. And still, a stockpile's only value lies in what can be gained by its distribution, so the king will demonstrate his power by creating coins, often with his name and face imprinted thereon. This creates a currency that doesn't have to be measured or weighed, and carries the authority of the king's power to dispense justice and demand service.

The value of a gold coin is whatever the king says it is, moderated only by the fiat of other kings who value their own coinage. A given weight in gold must be of similar value in the adjacent kingdom, or gold will flow across the border. And international exchanges can only be simplified by standardizing the weight of a coin across many kingdoms, to prevent the melting of coins to create equal measures. The need for fractional currency has usually been met by minting coins of various denominations from other, less valuable metals.

Eventually, inequalities in foreign exchanges of goods can lead to imbalances in the distribution of coinage, and a consequent imbalance of power between nations. A king with no money cannot muster an army to defend his lands against a wealthy king who can afford to hire mercenaries. This situation is clearly not to be tolerated. So the king will demand that the gold in his realm must be stockpiled again into his treasury, whereupon he will decree that paper promissory notes, which can be exchanged for gold, are to be used instead of actual coins.

One may begin to wonder if he has authorized the printing of more or fewer notes to represent the number of coins in his stockpile. Too many notes can cause inflation in foreign exchange rates, which will influence prices of goods at home. And the prospect of a sudden demand to exchange notes for gold could suggest a risk of bankruptcy if the neighboring king decides to cash in his notes.

Thus, a prolonged period of unbalanced trade can eventually lead to one king having the "bright idea" to separate the value of his paper money from the value of the accumulated gold in his vaults. Once more, the value of the "dollar" becomes whatever he says it is. Other nations may or may not agree to carry on business as usual across the borders. But if they have too many "dollars" in their vaults, they may have little choice but to exchange them back for valuable goods. At this point, many economies become vulnerable to the possibilities of inflation. Indeed, the temptation arises to regard the only means of security as being the ability to put other nations in your debt. Solvency on paper, if not in gold, represents the ability to maintain one's military might.

Part 4.
The value of "fiat money," however, depends in large part upon the skill and credibility of the king's accountants. Putting the accountants in charge of the nation's "reserve vaults" gives them the power to create an entirely new kind of value: the projected, somewhat speculative, value of "accounts receivable." That is an estimate of how much the government is owed, which is then compared to how much it owes to other nations, or to its creditors and investors.

The valuation of debt, is an entirely new variety of game. No longer is the economy expected to grow as a function of expanding productivity. Now it must grow faster than the demand for repayment of the nation's debts. The nation's trade business and the government have been borrowing to make foreign exchanges, and then borrowing to pay back what they have borrowed, with interest. But where does that extra interest money come from? In theory, it should come from increased productivity, or from austerity measures to ask people to export more than they import. But running a trade deficit implies that that hasn't been working.

So what else can be done? The government can raise taxes, ostensibly to pay down the debt. But that never works, especially in a welfare democracy where the people want ever greater entitlements. So how does the economy, and government revenues, grow fast enough to keep pace with the debt? By borrowing more, or creating more fiat money. The result can be nothing other than weaker confidence in the currency, climbing inflation, rising prices, and stagnant or falling wages. It's a neverending cycle, Ouroboros chewing on his own tail. And it's bound to eventually collapse.

There are very few ways to break out of this self-defeating situation. But as Fortune, or a merciful and providential God may have it, those ways just may be available to us.

Part 5.
So just what exactly are the pathways that can lead us out of this treacherous situation? Well, as mentioned earlier, we can try to raise our productivity, or we can choose austerity. But more productivity requires greater efficiency and innovation, which we are already pressing to the limits, until our workers are nearing burnout. And austerity is just another name for poverty. We already have enough of that, and more people slip into it every day. It's not a voluntary condition. So what else can we do?

Productivity can be raised in yet another may. New technologies can create new products, which hopefully will drive demand for exports. Many companies have agressive research and development plans to do just that. Between efforts to improve efficiency and the drive for better technology, we continue to make strides into the future. But those seem feeble compared to the magnitude of the task.

There is one more thing we can do, though. We can explore for new resources. You may object that our planet has already been thoroughly explored, and you would be at least half right. All of the accessible places have been reached. The oceans remain as a future challenge. But that isn't what I'm suggesting.

Our space programs are about to open up a brand new frontier for direct in situ exploration. When we get long term bases on the moon, and robotic explorers on the near earth asteroids, we can begin prospecting for new resources. And valuable minerals and metals are waiting to be discovered there. We already know that. The problem has been that spaceflight was so prohibitively expensive, until now.

Recently, we have begun to think again about the best ways to get into space, and we are applying new technologies to the problems that have been holding us back. No more are we going to depend on disposable rocketry. And we will use the most powerful and efficient engines that we can imagine to raise the new reusable rockets into orbit, and to cross the expanse to the Moon.

Once there, we are going to find the resources that we need to build the infrastructure that will support us to stay. This is a simple idea, like living off the land. We will build houses, grow gardens, and refine fuel for our rockets. And then, we will start returning the materials we will need to build large industrial space stations, refueling depots, and worker habitats in orbit around the Earth. In the meantime, when there are enough prospectors on the Moon, we will find the key to fix our economy. Asteroid impact craters on the Moon will have all of the same resources that we think we will find in the orbiting asteroids themselves. There will be minerals, yes, but also metals, including enough precious metals to bail out our debt economy.

Our neighbors and competitors know this too. That is why China is trying as hard and fast as they can to catch up and pass us on our way to return to the Moon. Our allies, too, are striving to invent the technologies to build livable habitats on its surface. The first ones to find real wealth will be able to influence the way the new laws of space exploitation will be written. As the saying goes: "He who has the gold makes the rules." And China wants to make the new rules.

We cannot afford to be timid in this endeavor. Indeed, we had better pray for guidance and providence to help us to compete strongly, so that we can stake claims on our share. If we get left behind, our grand experiment to build a democratic republic may fall irrevocably into decline. And that is what our competitors want. Up to now, they haven't been able to keep up with us, but with us in their debt, all they need is to find the right opportunity to break our bank.

The time to strive for the new frontier is now. And we have ambitious plans to meet the challenge. Just let us pray that we will choose the right paths and motivations to accomplish this great endeavor - this aim for the Heavens. If we choose well, and do it for his glory not our own, God will bless us and make our rewards abundant, as He has always promised.

So let it be written. So let it be done. Blessed be the Lord our God, Ruler of the Cosmos.
Amen.