The economy got you down? Worried about making your mortgage payment,
getting a car loan, affording fuel or the weekly groceries? News is filled
with Wall Street turmoil, bank failures, home foreclosures, and a clogged
financial system. Bailout, rescue, layoffs, cutbacks, bad debt, tight
credit, more gloom. Help!
Are you driving less, clipping more coupons, eating out less? Some employers
arrange four-day workweeks to save employee commuting costs.
Maybe you feel like the wag who quipped, "My friends told me to 'Cheer up.
Things could be worse!' So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse."
Sometimes in troubling times, a bit of perspective helps.
Some Perspective
Suppose you lived in Zimbabwe, a southern African nation gripped by an
astounding 40 million percent inflation. The New York Times reports that
citizens needing Zimbabwean dollars stand in bank lines in hopes of
withdrawing the maximum currency amount allowable, equivalent to about a US
dollar or two. It took one woman a day in a bank line to withdraw cash to
buy a bar of soap, four days for a bag of cornmeal.
The government recently reissued new currency, trimming ten zeros off the
amounts. (Calculators work better that way.) Without the fix, one US dollar
would now buy about 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.
Zimbabwe, of course, has been scarred by political mayhem. Power-sharing
between founding president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai aimed to bring sanity to a nation wracked by election violence.
Subsequent deadlock over which side would control the Finance Ministry did
not help the economy.
Teachers, nurses, and janitors by the thousands stay off the job because
their salaries no longer cover their bus fares to work. Decaying paupers'
bodies stack up in a mortuary; government neglects their burial. Most
Zimbabweans face hardship most westerners will never know.
Feel better? I didn't think so. You still face your own challenges.
Resources for Troubling Times
Global economic indicators spread gloom. In the United States, the Dow Jones
declined by one third in a year. Your stock portfolio, retirement accounts -
perhaps your life savings - may be dwindling before your eyes, almost as if
a thief were stealing from them.
It takes wisdom, strength, and patience to deal with such turmoil. Where do
you get those resources?
Life's troubles can confront us with our own inadequacies and prompt us to
look beyond ourselves. Family and friends may be supportive, but the
financial mess affects nearly everyone. Is there a need for aid beyond the
material and the human?
Maybe looking up could help. Jesus of Nazareth, an astute and practical
thinker, offered valuable perspective on cultivating wisdom, strength, and
patience. He encouraged people to assess and re-evaluate what they
treasured:
"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust
destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in
heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and
steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also
be." Matthew 6:19-21
Of course, we shouldn't neglect physical realities. Food, clothing and
shelter are necessities requiring our attention. But a relationship with God
can provide wisdom, strength and peace for navigating life's storms.
Will western economies descend into Zimbabwean collapse? Probably not. Will
they rebound? Perhaps. Should individuals re-evaluate what really matters in
life? Hmmm.
So, where's your treasure these days?
Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He
holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from
Duke and Oxford universities, respectively.
Useful link: www.probe.org/Rusty
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