Debt

There's a parable about a man who owed a King an incredible amount of money which he couldn't pay. So he went before the King and plead for relief. The King felt compassion for the man and relieved him of all he owed. On the way home the man stumbled upon another man who owed him money (a minuscule amount compared to what the King just forgave him). The man demanded that his debtor pay him back and when the debtor said he couldn't the man had the debtor thrown in jail. The King heard what happened, became furious and threw the man in jail to be tortured until he paid back all he owed.

One can't help but feel enraged over the lack of mercy shown to the second man. Even though the second man got what he deserved (jail was the penalty for not paying a debt) most people, I believe, would like to see mercy passed on.

The financial institution that holds my mortgage went before the U.S. Goverment in 2009 and received a nice chunk of zero interest T.A.R.P funds to stay afloat. On the way home from Washington the bank ran into me standing in the unemployment line and demanded the monthly payment I owed it. I explained to the bank my situation and the bank told me to talk to the Loan Modification Department. The Loan Modification Department said they couldn't help me because I didn't have a job. Huh? Really? Did it occur to anyone there that the REASON I need the loan modified is because I DON'T HAVE A JOB!
To add insult to injury they call every few days looking for a payment. Now I realize the employee calling me isn't getting paid much and probably gets yelled at by customers all day, so I'm nice when I say, "In the last few days I didn't get a job and even if I did I wouldn't have gotten a pay check yet." Then the person apologizes, make some notes on the computer and someone else calls me back again two days later.
I've done everything I can to pay them. I've burned through all my savings including my 401k, everything. I had perfect credit up until 6 months ago. I will probably lose my house to foreclosure. Do I deserve that? Yes, I can't meet the obligations of a contract which I signed. I would like some mercy though. Not the forgiveness of debt, just some forbearance until I'm back on my feet. Probably not going to happen.
So if things weren't bad enough I read in the Wall Street Journal today about a woman who made it through a bunch of interviews at Prudential and ended up not getting the job because of her credit report, a credit report that was perfect until she lost her job in 2008. Are you kidding me? So let me try and get this straight, because I may need to finish my Master's program to understand the logic here.
1- I can't pay my mortgage because I lost my job and I can't qualify for loan modification because I don't have a job.
2- Since I can't pay my mortgage because I don't have a job, I have a bad credit report, which makes it harder to get a job.

Lord, have mercy.