Christian Love is also known as Agape Love or Unconditional Love.

That is, Loving Action directed towards another.

Loving Action can be of 2 different types.

A Loving Action directed towards another — without any expectation of a Return.

You agree to put a Less Advantaged Child through College – knowing full–well that in so doing your Life and Lifestyle will be somewhat affected.

Knowing full-well, also, that the Less Advantaged Child cannot pay you back.  Nor, his/her family.

Certainly not in the Short Run.  But, maybe in the very Long Run.  The Long Run – when Time cancels all debts.

Lee Innocenti, President of Performance Strategies Ltd, an International Consulting Company, and, an occasional contributor to these pages, did just that. 

And, today, her protégée is a successful Human Resources Specialist at one of America’s most prestigious Corporations.

Lee Innocenti typifies what in Christianity is called Shepherd Love.

Wherein, the Shepherd picks up the Less Advantaged sheep and puts it around his neck.  And, carries it.  Till the sheep can make it on its own.

There is another type of Christian Love – another type of Loving Action.

And, that is Self-Sacrificing Love.

Wherein a person Sacrifices his/her Life for another.

We see many examples of Shepherd Love around us.  Both in business, and in personal life.

Self-Sacrificing Love is more difficult to come by in the Marketplace.

But, it happens.

Donating your own Vacation and Sick days to a co-worker in need is one form of Self-Sacrificing Love.

Most often seen in the Healthcare, Government, and Nonprofit, sectors.

Rarely in the Private sector.

But, there is a way in which Christians in the Private sector can practice Self-Sacrificing Love.

Christians who have worked many years, or who are comfortable financially, can offer to resign. 

So that a young person, just married, just starting his/her family, will be spared when the next round of Layoffs occur.   

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Super Bowl XLIV, to be played Sunday February 7, 2010 in Miami between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, is expected to shatter the record for number of viewers.

Worldwide around 1 billion.

With so many eyeballs – what a wonderful opportunity to honor Jesus!  And, bring His message of Love to the world!

Yes, we will have the Jesus-oriented pro-life / anti-abortion advertisement from Focus on the Family, featuring Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother Pam, aired during the Super Bowl. 

And, we will have CBS commentator James Brown on the sidelines at Sun Life Stadium.

Who wants to make sure that Players who talk about their Faith in Jesus Christ, and how It has helped them, get air time during the Game. 

But, talk is cheap. 

How about the Walk?

How about no trash talking?

No sneaky elbow butts?

No bone-crunching tackles?

No take downs that cause concussion?

In fact – how about eschewing deliberate violence against the opponents altogether?

Why not a good, clean, Game?

Is it too much to ask of 22 Christians on the field to play in a manner that honors Our Lord Jesus Christ?

Unnecessarily violent tackles do not honor Our Lord. 

Nor, sneaky underhand hits.

Nor, expletives, insults.

What honors Our Lord is Fair Play.

What good is it? — a Player mouthing off how the Lord is his Rock? — the keystone of his Success…..?

…..if he follows it up by unleashing mayhem on the opponents?

Willfully inflicting bodily harm.  

Designed to render the opponent incapable, or less capable.

Yes, in so doing the Game may be won.

But, the people watching, who hear violent Players glibly confess the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Center of their lives, will be left baffled, confused, bewildered, by this hypocrisy.

And, the opportunity to evangelize 1 billion people will have been lost.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

This disposition towards Bigness is what led the agricultural Cattle Barons to shoot down small, individual, Homesteaders and take over their Spreads to enlarge their own.  What led the industrial Robber Barons to destroy smaller companies or take them over to expand their own.

Enlarging one’s own fortune at the expense of others was the test of Righteousness in Calvinism as practiced in America since its founding. 

And, accounts, also, for the fantastic success of The Prayer of Jabez [2000] by Bruce Wilkinson.

The prayer of Jabez was an unadulterated demand for Material blessing.  

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!  Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”  And God granted his request.  [1 Chronicles 4: 10 NIV – New International Version]       

The fact that Jabez has sold some 10 million copies, and millions of Americans are praying the Jabez prayer every day, reflects the deep-seated American desire for Material blessings, not Spiritual. 

And, that is all that American Greed is – a demand by the overwhelming majority of Americans that God bless them with copious Goods – and one helluva good time.

Not their neighbor.  Not the poor.  Not others in America.  Or, the world. 

No! – just them.

However, to be fair, to put American Greed in perspective – it was not always so.

At least, not on this generalized basis of today.  Where the overwhelming majority of Americans are unhappy with the blessings that Jesus has bestowed upon them.  They want more.

The Great Depression [1929-1939] had brought about a sense of Community in America.  A concern for the Common Good.  So had America’s involvement in World War II [1941-1945].

But, the end of World War II in 1945, and, particularly, after the mid-1960s and the anti-Vietnam War protests, the Civil Rights marches, and the Feminist movement, the Rights of the Individual became more important in America than the promotion of the Common Good.

Me became more important than We.

For everyone, from the Janitor in a small Office building to the CEO of a Fortune 5 Corporation in his glass-and-steel corner office on Park Avenue, the pursuit of unlimited wealth became the American Dream.

Throughout my working life on Wall Street, and my personal life in Essex and Bergen counties in New Jersey, I have not heard anyone ever say – I have enough.  I don’t want more.

Have you heard anyone ever say – I have enough, I don’t want more?

In America today everyone wants more and more.

Greed, sadly, is now as American as Motherhood and Apple Pie.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Greed is now as American as Motherhood and Apple Pie.

Implying, thereby, that it was not at one time.

Our first fore bearers, the earliest settlers, could not have survived the harsh environment, and the justly hostile Native Americans, had there not been total cooperation among them.

Greed would have done them in.

Ditto, our earliest ancestors.  The harsh environment, the naturally hostile creatures, required total cooperation among them in order to survive.

Greed would have done them in.

The move away from living in Community during the Hunting/Gathering period, to dwelling in Individual establishments during the Agricultural era, let Greed raise its ugly head in Society.

But, successful Agricultural production required a substantial amount of cooperation among neighbors. 

And, even though the Industrial Revolution in England [started circa 1750] had wrecked havoc on the Community system of living, some of the Community system needed for successful Agricultural production still survived in England into the late 19th Century.

Thomas Hardy in The Mayor Of Casterbridge [1886] http://www.online-literature.com/hardy/casterbridge/ writes in Chapter 27 paragraph 40 – “Nearly the whole town had gone into the fields.  The Casterbridge populace still retained the primitive habit of helping one another in time of need; and thus, though the corn belonged to the farming section of the little community–that inhabiting the Durnover quarter—the remainder was no less interested in the labour of getting it home.”

Very little such Cooperative, Community-based endeavor informed Agriculture in America.

The Homestead Act [1862] allowed possession of 160 acres of unclaimed Federal land.  Too big a Spread for any English-type Cooperative endeavor. 

Cooperative barn raisings were the nearest that America came to Community-based efforts.

Beyond the size of the Spread, the factor that truly militated against Cooperative, Community-based enterprise in the newly-emerging Republic was the type of Christianity practiced in America.

The Christianity of England, then, and now, is Anglican – the first cousin of Catholicism.  And, hence, carries within its practice substantially the Catholic Church’s emphasis on a preferential option for the poor.

The Christianity of earliest America was, and, is now, Calvinism.

Which equated material possessions as a sign of God’s blessings. 

The more one had, the more one had been blessed by God.  And, the more one had been blessed by God the more one was likely to be blessed by God.

Business success was seen as a sign of God’s favor.  Business failure as a sign of God’s disfavor, God’s displeasure.

So, Bigness in size, in Agriculture and in Industry, in the size of one’s Bank Balance, in the size of one’s Net Worth, in the size of one’s Bonus, in the size of one’s Paycheck, was seen as a Virtue by Calvinist America. 

Not a Vice, as taught by the Catholic and the Anglican Churches.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Not literally, of course. 

Figuratively.

That Greed is not good is an axiom we all grew up with.

Our Mothers drilled it into our ears till we were sick of hearing it!

But, words are – mere words.

And, most of us did not really understand the impact of Greed till we were sick in the stomach.

From eating too much.  Or, drinking too much.

But, there are other forms of Greed, other forms of over-consumption.

More Clothes than we need.  More House than we need.  More Car than we need.  More Money than we need.

Such Gluttony, such Acquisition far in excess of our real needs, has consequences.

Not just physical consequences like obesity.  Or, financial consequences like bankruptcy. 

But, moral consequences like dishonest, sinful, behavior.

Which is why the Catholic Church, which the final arbiter of all things moral in the Christian world, considers Greed to be among the 7 deadliest sins.

A Mortal sin. 

A sin that does not just devastate the Body, but, destroys the Soul.

Now, research in the new field of Epigenetics, reported in the January 18, 2010 issue of TIME Magazine, shows that Greed, and the gluttonous lifestyle that goes with it, does not just impair a person’s body.

It maims their children genetically, and their children’s children, as well.

Greed, thus, in a Parent, figuratively speaking, is the equivalent of slitting one’s children’s throats.

How does it happen?

Crapulence, excessive indulgence, the result of Greed, results in harmful “changes in gene activity that…..get passed down to at least one successive generation.”

The average Wall Street bonus in 2009 is reported to be $500,000.

That may be good for the Parents.  Or, given its genetic consequences – is it good for the Parents?

It certainly is not good for their Children.

Proving, once again, that Mother was right about Greed.

Mother Church, too.    

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

washingtonhotwire.com has addressed the issue of Work regularly in its pages.

Most recently at http://www.washingtonhotwire.com/?p=729

Work is a Heavy Subject.  Below, is a lighter view, sent me by my niece, Bunty.

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a Medical Alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous, Virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically.

This Virus is called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (WORK).

If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues, or anyone else, via any means whatsoever – DO NOT TOUCH IT!!!

This Virus will wipe out your private life entirely.

If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises.

Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the antidotes.

Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE).

And, Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER).

Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

You should immediately forward this Medical Alert to 5 friends.

If you do not have 5 friends, you have already been infected.

And, WORK is, sadly, controlling your life.

Get help immediately.

Editor’s Comments – A light-hearted view of Work.  And, good for a laugh.

But, the sad truth is that Work controls our lives.

The Gospels and the Epistles have much to say about Work.

Hopefully, the Verses below will put Work into a more excellent perspective.

And be not drunk with wine [or, beer], wherein is excess; but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit…..[Ephesians 5: 18 KJV – King James Version]

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  [John 6:27 KJV]

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the Love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.  [Hebrews 6:10 KJV]

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Opus Dei.

Isn’t that the powerful, evil, Catholic group in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown [2003]?

No.  Opus Dei is nothing like this bizarre creation of Dan Brown’s overwrought imagination.

In reality, Opus Dei, which is Latin for “Work of God”, runs educational, industrial, and agricultural, institutions.  In more than 90 countries across 4 continents.

One such educational Institution is IESE.

The initials IESE stands for “Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa” in Spanish.

In English, IESE translates as “Institute of Higher Business Studies”, or “International Graduate School of Management”.

And, The Economist ranks the IESE Business School’s MBA the # 1 in the world in 2009.  A rank it, also, attained in 2005 and 2006.

The ability of the IESE MBA program to progress careers, open new opportunities, develop personal and work-related skills, were factors that The Economist considered in its rankings.  

But, IESE students get more than just these Secular capabilities.

Being students in a Catholic-driven Institution they get the whole Catholic shebang. 

But, lightly.

Ever so lightly.

They assimilate the fundamental Catholic belief that each one of us, in our own way, is called to Holiness. 

That the very quotidian of our lives is the way to Goodness and Godliness.

Or, as Opus Dei founder, St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, put it — “There is something Holy, something Divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.”  

Discovering the Divine is what IESE’s MBA students are taught to do.

But, where is the Divine to be found?

In Man.  In men.

Which is why IESE states that its Mission is to teach students “to serve society…..”

Quite unlike American Business Schools – which teach students to screw People if necessary to guarantee Profits.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

We rarely see in our own times, sometimes even in our own lifetimes, the Lord reward Christian Action.

But, the Lord always rewards Christian Action.

Christian Action very simply is Love.

A Loving word.  A Loving deed.  Delivered unconditionally.  As enjoined upon us in John 13: 34.

In my post “A Supervisor’s Christian Approach To A Worker Habitually Late” at http://www.washingtonhotwire.com/?p=778 I wrote about Rosa, a Supervisor at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, who would go to her employee Diane M T-N’s apartment, wake her up, and bring her to work.

Diane M T-N is a most excellent worker.  And, has a heart of gold. 

But, this, unfortunately, does not help with the fact that Diane is not a morning person.

Hence, Rosa’s early morning Missions of Mercy.

Why do you do this? I asked Rosa one day.

She’s my worker.  She’s like my Sister.  I care for her, Rosa replied.

[Ah! the good old days of good management.  This happened in the early 1980s.  When we looked upon each other at work as People, not merely as instruments of labor – as we do today.] 

Would many Supervisors do as much for their employees?

Rosa did it because she saw Diane not as a worker.  But, as a Sister.

The proper, and Christian, acknowledgement of their relationship.

Then, Diane was transferred to another Department.

Where, being a most excellent worker, she thrived.

Eventually, rising to the position of Vice President.

Diane kept in touch with Rosa.  Lunched with her regularly.

Diane is that kind of a person. 

She does not look down on her erstwhile colleagues just because she has risen up the Corporate ladder.

One day news came that Rosa’s job was being eliminated.

But, as the hymn says – He forgets not His own.

Our Lord remembered Rosa’s Christian Action of years ago.

His reward came at Diane’s hands.

Diane absorbed Rosa into her Department.

Editor’s Note – You can listen to the hymn “We Gather Together” from which the words He forgets not His own are taken at http://nethymnal.org/htm/w/e/wegattog.htm 

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

On January 15, 2010, The Reverend Jim Wallis, President and CEO of Sojourners, a Christian Community devoted to Social Justice, sent the following Tweet –  “Wall Street Bankers: Send Your Bonuses to Haiti!”

Haiti, the island nation between Cuba and Puerto Rico, had been struck by a 7-magnitude earthquake on January 12th. 

With devastating consequences around Port-au-Prince, its teeming Capital city.

On January 9th the New York Times reported at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10pay.html that 5 of the largest banks which received taxpayer money under the TARP [Troubled Assets Relief Program] bailout are set to pay out some $45 billion in Bonuses for 2009.

Yes.  You read that right.  It’s “B” – as in Billion.  In Bonuses, alone!

Out of some $90 Billion set aside by these Big 5 as Compensation payments in 2009.

What have these Wall Street Bankers, who are getting $90 Billion in Total Compensation, done in response to Jim Wallis’ plea?

Zilcho.

Nada.  Nothing.

Just dead silence from these Wall Street Bankers.

Here’s what they could do in response to Jim Wallis’ call.

Don’t buy that $4 million Pad.

Avoid restaurants where Breakfast is over $15.

Duck away from the doorways of Luxury-Goods Retailers.

Abandon the thought of buying a Big Boat; charter instead.

Forgo the high-end Vacation Home.

Refrain from meeting with Art Dealers.

Ditto luxury Travel Agents.

Forswear expensive Jewelry, Watches, Baubles.

Shun Bars and Cigars – the kind that Tiger Woods used to haunt.

Steer clear of being Served – by chefs and maids and masseurs.

Instead, choose to Serve.

The poor, desperate, dying, people of Haiti. 

Send your entire Bonus to Haiti.

Whether you like it or not, these are your brothers and sisters.

Made by the same Lord Our God that made you.  And, your wife.  And, children.

Or, in the ultimate act of Christian Love – gather them all together.  And, head off to Haiti.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

What would you do to a worker who came in to work late, regularly.

Fire him/her?

Sure.

That’s what 99.99% of Supervisors and Managers would do.

Not Rosa.

This happened when I was working as an Internal Consultant at Manufacturers Hanover Trust.  Which merged with Chemical Bank.  Which merged with The Chase Manhattan Bank.

The worker, who came to work late, regularly, was Diane M T-N.

Diane is one of these people who have a heart of gold.  Is a great worker.  Nay, excellent!  But, is not a morning person.

Rosa could have fired Diane. But, did not.

Instead, since Diane’s house was directly in her [Rosa’s] way to work in Water Street, downtown New York, she would park at
Diane’s apartment block, go up to her apartment.

And, then, the struggle began.

The struggle to wake up Diane.

To get her to shower and dress.

To bundle her into her [Rosa’s] car.

Put a cup of coffee in her [Diane’s] hand.

Get her to work.

Get her to her desk.

Rosa did for days and weeks and months.

Not every day, mind you.

[There were days when Diane managed to get to the Office under her own steam.

[Sometimes on time.  Sometimes a little late.]

But, often enough.

Why do you do this? I asked Rosa one day.

She’s my worker.  She’s like my Sister.  I care for her, Rosa replied.

[Ah! the good old days of good management.  This happened in the early 1980s.  When we looked upon each other at work as People, not instruments of labor – as we do today.] 

Would you do this much for your employees?

Don’t answer!  I know the answer.

Sadly, I doubt many Christian workers today – Christian employers, employees – would do as much.

Says a lot about America today.

Says much more about the state of our Christianity.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]