Jesus Misunderstood the Rich

Luke 16:19-31
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire!'
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
"'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!'"

Fortunately today our understanding of the benefits that the rich provide is much different than it was in ancient times. Now we know that they are benevolent beings, who if left unburdened by taxation and laws would bring prosperity to all. In this story Jesus fails to see that the rich man is a job creator. Lazarus, the poor man, might have benefited from one of these jobs if he had not made the poor choice of being a beggar.

Hopefully, Jesus has read the latest conservative research and philosophy and has revised his opinion in the case of Lazarus and the rich man.

Three Radios and a Rock-ola

I saw this radio at the Third Sunday Market in Bloomington IL a while back.  Other than the name Philco I didn't know anything else about this radio.  Fortunately if you want to find out about Philco radios there is an excellent site, Philco Radio .  There I was able to find that this radio is a Philco Lowboy 65.  It was introduced in the fall of 1929.  The model was very popular and is said to be easy to find today.  How this radio went from likely spending years with a central place in some families home to sitting in an open field at a flea market is a story I would love to hear.  I imagine this radio once carried the news of the early days of the Great Depression to the election of FDR. It may even have lasted through WWII and up to when it was replaced by a TV. 

The Westinghouse Model WR29 above was sitting in the same open area as the Philco Low Boy.  First made in 1934, the Westinghouse Model WR29 probably heard news of John Dillinger's bank robbing career and death. I wonder how this radio has managed to survive for 80 years?

The Philco Model 41-280X was introduced in 1941.  The original selling price was $69.95 which would be equal to $1076 today.  So for most people this was a major purchase.  And since this was one of the most popular radios of it's time it was a price that a lot of people were willing to pay.  The Model 41-280X is  more sophisticated than the two radios presented earlier.  In addition to the AM band the Model 41-280X has shortwave bands and police and aircraft bands.  There are also 8 preset push buttons like those that many of us can remember being on car radios.  Almost undoubtedly this is a radio that saw anxious faces listening for news of WWII.  And probably of the three it is the one most likely to have hung around long enough to be replaced by a TV.

The Rock-Ola Model 1458 was made in 1958.  By that time the three radios above had probably either been retired or moved to a less important place in the house. Unlike the older console radios for a price a jukebox the Rock-Ola let you pick the songs you wanted to hear. And the music that they played was often a kind that those from the days of the console radio found disturbing.  I was just a little kid when rock music was just catching on, however I can vividly remember the divide between those who thought it was music and those who thought it was noise.  And because of that divide the Rock-Ola Model 1458 was probably in the middle of more controversy than any of the three radios that I have talked about.