This is a week which has loomed large each year since 1955, when Congress moved the filing deadline for tax returns to its current date.  April 15 holds a prominent place on our calendars, but this day is not always the highlight of our year.  The conscientious among us filed their taxes months ago and think nothing of this week.  But for the procrastinators in our midst, this week promises late nights, scores of Google searches, and more than a few “can you believe…” questions to our husbands and wives.

But “all things were created for [Jesus]…that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:16, 18).  This “everything” includes our money, and the IRS, and Tax Week, which means that even this week exists to make Jesus look glorious.

I know we are all ticked off by AIG giving out bonuses to employees. True, AIG behaved in a reckless and ridiculous manner, clearly highlighting the vast gulf between the mindset of some American financial executives still living in the Land of Make-Believe and the rest of us living in the disorienting Land of Recession. But really. A retroactive tax?  As Senator Judd Gregg stated on Friday, it is wrong “to propose to use the taxing authority of the government in a manner that is arbitrary, punitive, and targeted on a single group of people.” I also like John Stewart’s description on Thursday’s Daily Show, “Congress got together and opened up a can of dumbass.” The people who rode along with the Bush Administration, helping to dismantle meaningful financial regulation, now want to create “smart bomb” tax policy. Good luck with that!