A Threesome: Some Prayers, a Prime Minister, and a Parable

Prayers for Police and for Peace

In these tense days of troubles among African-Americans and law enforcement officers, we suggest these prayers from A New Zealand Prayer Book*. 

FOR THE JUDICIARY AND POLICE

God of truth and justice;
we ask you to help the men and women
who administer and police our laws;
grant them insight, courage and compassion,
protect them from corruption and arrogance
and grant that we, whom they seek to serve,
may give them the support and affection they need;
so may our people be strengthened more and more in respect and concern for one another.
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ. Amen.

ON THE 25^TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: For Our World

Universal and unchanging God,
we are one, unalterably one,
with all the human race.
Grant that we who share Christ’s blood
may, through your unifying Spirit,
break down the walls that divide us.
This we ask through Christ our Mediator. Amen.

 __________

*http://anglicanprayerbook.nz/index.html  1988.  Pages 139 and 637.

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Theresa May To Become U.K. Prime Minister

On July 13, the U.K. will get its second woman Prime Minister when Theresa May, currently Home Secretary, assumes that higher office.  As we wrote last week, David Cameron resigned immediately after the Brexit vote on June 23; he will do that formally July 13 by presenting himself and his letter of resignation to the Queen; he will inform her that Ms. May is available and in his view would be worthy of the appointment.  Later in the day, Ms. May will be presented to the Queen.

We give you this follow-up information for a couple of reasons.  Obviously, it is an important step forward in the U.K.’s new sense of itself.  Ms. May favored remaining in the EU, but she seems always to have understood what people wanted in breaking away and will work carefully on that process.  Comments we saw about her indicate that she is a most conscientious worker in government and concentrates on the substance of matters, rather than the perks and personality points of holding office.  “I don’t tour the TV studios,” she has stated.

This brings us to the second reason we want to give specific mention to this development.  We are struck by the “adult” attitudes of the U.K. leaders at this time.  Boris Johnson, who seemed to be a leading candidate early on, and Andrea Leadsom, the other finalist for election as Conservative Party leader, both pulled out to allow the selection to take place with the least controversy possible.  At this point in time, with much uncertainty, having the election process as brief as practicable helps significantly in both domestic and international affairs, and we are impressed that egos have not gotten in the way and that everyone has seemed to be in line to move forward, despite the shock of the Brexit vote outcome.  Concluding the Prime Minister decision promptly will permit more time on the substance of the conditions for the U.K.’s departure from the EU, and Ms. May seems to be someone who will give ample consideration to all concerns in this important step.

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Maybe the 3^rd Servant Was Right To Bury his Talent

The Gospel selection assigned for today’s (July 12) Daily Office readings in the U.S. Book of Common Prayer is the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30.  A man of wealth is going off on a long journey and decides to let three slaves manage some of his funds while he is away.  To one slave, he gives 5 “talents”, to a second slave, 2 talents and to a third slave, 1 talent.  The first two make investments or form businesses, and each doubles his money.  When the master returns, he is very pleased with their performances and promises them promotions.  The third slave buries his talent in the ground; he doesn’t lose any money, but he doesn’t gain anything either.  As we know, the master is upset at this action – or non-action – by the third slave; he takes back the talent and throws the slave out on the street, leaving him penniless and homeless.

In some dialogue this morning with Barbara Crafton, she and I both realized that there might be times when the third slave actually did the right thing in burying the talent.  Last week in Japan, for instance, that government issued 10-year bonds with a yield of  -0.243%; that is, there is negative interest on the bonds, so that investors are paying the government a fee to keep their money safe for 10 years and return it to them.  Similarly, in Germany, a recent auction of 30-year government bonds carried a negative yield of -0.76%.  So investors there also are paying the government to keep their money for them and return it at the designated time.

Thus, simply by burying the talent in the ground and returning it to the master at the proper time, the slave might have fulfilled an important function, keeping the master’s money safe and keeping it from eroding in value.

However – you knew there had to be a “however” – the broader economic environment that surrounds these negative bond yields is hardly one that produces many business opportunities that result in doubling someone’s active investment.  So it’s unlikely that the other two slaves would have been nearly as successful in this scenario. The German stock market is down 13% from a year ago, the Japanese stock market 21%.  The U.S. market is up, but by only 1.3%.  Investors would have done all right with gold, at a gain of almost 15% from a year ago, but a broad index of industrial and agricultural commodities is down 13%.

The lesson for investors in these differential results is that we need to assess the whole environment and be aware of the risks.  As Barbara wrote in her own comments on this parable, the underlying issue is not money but risk.  For the three slaves and for us, probably the best answer is a mix of assets with varying risks.  We see that sometimes, burying the talent in the ground can be the best thing.  And perhaps all of the time, at least some of the funds should be in something with a guaranteed outcome.  Otherwise, nothing is totally sure.