Abraham was a consummate dealmaker, and when (as told in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis) he attempted to persuade God to rethink his intentions toward the wicked inhabitants of Sodom, he elevated deal making to a high art.
Knowing that God would stand no more of the licentiousness rampant in Sodom and intended to destroy it, Abraham speculated that there might be a few good folks in the doomed metropolis, and posed this question: “Wilt Thou destroy the righteous with the wicked?”
Abe the dealmaker then asks another question: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” He reminded God that, for the purposes of punishment, grouping righteous folks with the unrighteous will “…be far from Thee.”
Abe’s maneuvering gave God pause, for He responded, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous … then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
Suspecting that there may not be fifty people in Sodom who weren’t totally given over to evil, Abraham said, “Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: Wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five?” The Lord concurred.
Proving that boldness has genius, power and magic in it, Abraham continued to make counter proposals, and wheedled the Lord down from forty-five, to forty, to thirty, to twenty, and finally to ten sinless souls in Sodom.
Chapter 18 closes by saying that the Lord then went His way, perhaps feeling a bit out-dealt by the Hebrew patriarch who did his best to forestall God’s wrath upon Sodom.
Even so, Abe’s efforts were to no avail, for the next chapter of Genesis records that “…the Lord rained upon Sodom … brimstone and fire…” and destroyed all the inhabitants. Justice was served, but Abraham’s abilities as the quintessential dealmaker weren’t diminished.
Hopefully, members of this country’s leadership possess some of Abraham’s compromising capability. Considering that the entire economy is teetering on the brink of collapse and that America is freefalling toward bankruptcy, the possibility of soon standing in soup lines looms frighteningly clear.
By virtue of the fact that the Republicans control half of one branch of government, they must try to compromise with the Democrats, who control the rest of government.
That is a tall order, but the simple reality is that our leaders must accept the fact that a trend toward more spending and endless debt by raising the debt ceiling may temporarily relieve America’s economic woes, but will increase those woes when they are passed on to today’s youth who will soon enter the job market and are lucky enough to secure employment, but are disappointed to find that an unbearably large portion of their earnings will go to pay taxes.
Politicos on both sides of the aisle must focus less on the trees and envision the forest. Hopefully, they will enter into meaningful give-and-take compromise in the best interests of today’s citizens, as well as those of tomorrow.
They can … if they implement the compromising skills of Abe the dealmaker.
Jimmy Reed is an Oxford, Mississippi resident, Ole Miss and Delta State University alumnus, Vietnam Era Army Veteran, former Mississippi Delta cotton farmer and ginner, author, and retired college teacher.
This story is a selection from Jimmy Reed’s latest book, entitled The Jaybird Tales.
Copies, including personalized autographs, can be reserved by notifying the author via email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).
