Sand or Five Pillars?

Earlier this week our president spoke on the economy at George Town University. In his speech he made an interesting reference to the Sermon on the Mount.

There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was destroyed as soon as the storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when “…the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock.

Interestingly he went on to explain what we do need to build our economy on...

It’s a foundation built upon five pillars that will grow our economy and make this new century another American century: new rules for Wall Street that will reward drive and innovation; new investments in education that will make our workforce more skilled and competitive; new investments in renewable energy and technology that will create new jobs and industries; new investments in health care that will cut costs for families and businesses; and new savings in our federal budget that will bring down the debt for future generations. That is the new foundation we must build. That is our future.

Interesting choice of words. The White House also had the cross and the letters IHS* covered.

* IHS is common Christogram based on the first three letters of "Jesus" in Greek. It's a common seal used by the Jesuits and was later interpreted as "Iesus Hominum Salvator", Jesus, Saviour of Mankind, "Iesum Habemus Socium"


I guess I'll just use my usual response... Interesting.