Losing Things — Finding God

Job losses con­tinue. Com­pa­nies are in trou­ble. Peo­ple are hold­ing onto what lit­tle money they might have saved. The mate­ri­al­ism party is over — at least for now. Unem­ploy­ment is in dou­ble dig­its. Pro­grams across the boards are fac­ing cut­backs. Short­falls, tighter credit, fore­clo­sures — these are the words you hear more fre­quently. Good news! The stage is being set for a new era of mean­ing and purpose.

Spir­i­tu­al­ity works when then the econ­omy is up or down, but it really thrives dur­ing the down­swing. It is like watch­ing a per­son going to jail. The first thing they get inside the cell is reli­gion. They reach for a Bible, if there is one to be had. The doors slam shut, the walls close in, and the per­son has to face life at a grim level. Much the same hap­pens when a per­son sud­denly goes from a com­fort­able home or office into the Inten­sive Care Unit.

Pain, depri­va­tion, suf­fer­ing — all make an oppor­tu­nity for the spirit to arise and do what it should have been doing all along: giv­ing mean­ing to life. Our greater self gets put on the back burner, while we amuse our­selves with our toys. This hap­pens at all socio-economic lev­els in Amer­ica. Then one day the crunch comes. We grieve a while then come to a sense of accep­tance. At that point, we begin to find a richer and more mean­ing­ful existence.

Church atten­dance picks up. Enroll­ment in sem­i­nary increases. Many non-profits are blessed with new vol­un­teers. Peo­ple find time again. No longer able to afford a night on the town, they sit on the front porch and watch the sun­set. The spirit inside begins to stir. Life qual­ity is about to go up. Old nov­els are dusted off. Down­siz­ing becomes a sport — a game of find­ing one’s true life beneath the rubble.

Oppor­tu­ni­ties to help in ways other than money present them­selves. More peo­ple find them­selves in the same boat. No longer able to insu­late our­selves with goods, ser­vices, and cash, we find our more human side: con­ver­sa­tions, walks in the woods, our pets, our friends, and even God. Yep, last but not least is the Cre­ator. No won­der Jesus had such bless­ings for the poor. They were with him all along. What else would they do? Their hands (and usu­ally their stom­achs too) were empty.

Empty hands and open hearts — wel­come to the new economy.