More on the four bears
November 26, 2008
On November 21, I rashly promised to opine about how the global economy got so screwed up that it is causing a lot of pain. I’m not smart enough, so I won’t try to analyze and explain. What I can do, perhaps, is to look at things from a more personal level since it is on that level that we must try to weather the storm.
What storm? Me worry?
In case you aren’t feeling the wind and the rain just yet, here is the kind of a storm I am talking about. It is a storm that is making itself felt at many levels. It causes anxiety about the dependability of our sources of income, and this concern unconsciously ripples down to mundane things like making us picky while grocery shopping, causing us to cut back on travel plans, chop the Christmas gift budget. Some of us are getting the queasy feeling that life suddenly isn’t quite as rosy as it seemed last week and not as secure.
Is this just Y2K all over again? Don’t I wish I knew! You won’t find the answer in this little essay, but the financial pain we all feel may well get worse before it gets better.
Having stated the obvious (I’m pretty good at that), what constructively can I add? Here are some points that occur to me:
Either there is a God firmly in control of the world of government and finance, or there is not. If you lean, as I do, on the authority of the Bible on such matters, you can take comfort in the fact that He is definitely the God of presidents-elect and investment bankers as well as of simple folk, far-fetched as that may seem during these turbulent times. Read Romans 13:1-7, swallow hard, and believe.
The alternative is the terrible helpless feeling that comes from concluding that we are just victims of our fate, so quit your bellyaching. My faith just isn’t strong enough to believe that.
However, that gray mass between our ears is there for a purpose, and it still is helpful to look at the evidence and try to draw our own conclusions. It’s probably not oversimplification to conclude that our dwindling finances are the partly the result of the fear and greed of a handful of people we trusted to know better. Download and read The End to see what I mean.
The Great Depression and All That
If you will humor me for a moment, there may be some helpful lessons from the past that I can dredge up. I can just barely claim to have lived through the Great Depression. I was born in 1931, I am told, and since the Depression didn’t really end until the early 1940s, a few of my early memories may provide a clue about what may be ahead for us. (Or not, as the case may be.)
In the early 1940s, we lived on the north edge of Topeka, Kansas, not too far from the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe tracks leading into the Topeka train-yard. Hobos were still riding the rails as the last victims of high unemployment during the Depression, and my brothers and I would now and then find the remains of their campfires in the woods between our house and the tracks. (We never found a real live hobo, to our disappointment.) Do you suppose we might be in for another time of very high unemployment?
My best guess is that such deep unemployment will not be repeated this time around. Hasn’t president-elect Obama just said that he would give consumer spending “a jolt?” Don’t the majority of consumers already work for Uncle Sam? I’m a consumer and I’m quite willing to be jolted into spending like crazy. (no pride, here!)
“Jolt” the money supply is exactly what President Roosevelt did not do after he was elected in 1934, but I hear that we are all Keynesians now, which may mean more of us will avoid layoffs. Or it may mean that the Inflation Monster is being uncaged, thereby increasing and spreading the financial pain.
A more important lesson, I believe, is that the Great Depression, proved that you and I and our neighbors are pretty darned tough when push comes to shove. Maybe, even in these days of hopping a bus to school or driving ourselves to work or depending on the County Market shelves to remain stocked 24/7, we will surprise ourselves with our resilience.
Will our paychecks continue non-stop? Will our Social Security checks always hit our bank accounts on time? We may be finding out soon.
I’m tempted to preach a bit at this point about the wisdom of “saving for a rainy day,” but I don’t dare, because I have never done that. I unaccountably got blessed way beyond reason with the right education and the right set of skills for my times. (Avoiding the draft helped. Choosing a frugal wife also helped. Frugal I am not!)
Relax – I’m about through.
Worldview, is the translation of the German word Weltanschauung, meaning how we look at the world and the culture around us. The original use of the term conveyed relativism, and was later introduced into Christian circles by neo-Calvinists thinkers like Abraham Kuyper, who argued
that Christians cannot counter the spirit of the age in which they live unless they develop an equally comprehensive biblical worldview – an outlook on life that gives rise to distinctive Christian forms of culture – with the important qualification that it is not merely the relativistic belief of a particular culture but is based on the very Word of God, true for all times and places.
A Christian worldview is a long term view that sees our present financial crisis as just another chapter in the human story. This, too, shall pass.
The secular worldview places its trust in people in high places for a quick fix.
More reading…
The Economist has some interesting things to say about personal and business savings in The End of the Affair and All You Need is Cash.
Then, to go along with The End, cited earlier, look at Worst of Times. On how the crisis is redrawing the boundaries between government and markets, read When Fortune Frowned.
Dave, which he is wondering how this will read in 5 years.
Bible Diary - Hebrews 11:10-22
November 23, 2008
I’ve always thought this passage was a bit of overkill. Perhaps just an example or two would illustrate the point, but I guess reminders of God’s faithfulness are always in order. The key verse is, I believe, verse 13. “These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.,” the point being that the really hard thing to fully believe, for most of us, is that this life is only the beginning and that we have no reason to believe our faith will be rewarded in this life.
11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore. 11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 11:19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there. 11:20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. 11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.
It is clear that Joseph really got it. At the end of a long life of twists and turns, he was able to look beyond the end of his earthly life to give instructions for his future.
Dave, sometimes wondering if he really get it.
-sdg-
How bad is this bear?
November 21, 2008
I don’t know either, but for a grisly perspective click on the image to the left.
OK, have you digested that? (Maybe ‘digest’ was a poor choice of words.) As son Larry would say, Edward R. Tufte would love that graphic. (Tufte wrote two classic books entitled, “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” and “Envisioning Information.”
But I digress. If you wonder what I’m going to say about the bears, come back in a day or so. I’m still thinking about it. If you don’t wonder what I may have to say, come back anyway - I’m lonesome.
Dave, thinking maybe he ought to consult with brother Don, who may have a clue.
Quote of the day
November 21, 2008
PAUL INGRASSIA in today’s Wall Street Journal commented about a Detroit talk show host who asked “whether Michigan, as well as the car companies, should get assistance. The state is being hit by an economic hurricane, he said, just as New Orleans was hit by a natural hurricane.”
Huh? Will the victimology myth never end? Hurricane Katrina was an act of God. The car crisis is an act of man. For the difference, consult the Bible. Any version will do.
The title of the op-ed piece, by the way, was “The Auto Makers Are Already Bankrupt.”
At least morally and quite possibly actually.
Dave, loving his Toyota.
Bible Diary - Hebrews 11:8-9
November 16, 2008
I’m not sure how much I really understand about faith. What was Abraham thinking when God called him to go out “without understanding where he was going”? How was he able to do that? What I do know is that Abraham’s certainty that it was God calling him was sufficient to overcome his reluctance to step out into the unknown.
11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.
But isn’t it true that there is a sense in which we never know where we are going? We have not been given the ability to look into the future, probably because God knows we are too weak to handle such knowledge, so what I need is not the strength to follow God into the (for me) unknown but the realization that I have no other choice. In reality I never know where I am going. (No comments, please.)
Another thought in this passage worth pondering is how to live the life of a pilgrim in this life, for that is my call as well as Abraham’s. Jesus makes this clear to me in the Gospels.
Supplementing the idea that each of my steps is a step into the unknown is the command to hold on to my possessions lightly, remembering always that they are here to be enjoyed now. Eventually they will simply add to the clutter I leave behind.
Dave, perhaps loving his stuff more than he should.
-sdg-
Bible Diary - Hebrews 11:1-7
November 9, 2008
Biblical faith has been defined in many ways. Faith must have an object (faith in what?) to have any meaning at all, and the object of biblical faith is Jesus Christ. That’s the starting point. In this passage, I see the author of Hebrews providing a good working definition and following up on it with examples.
People Commended for Their Faith
11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 11:2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation. 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead. 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
I particularly like “By faith we understand … that the visible has its origin in the invisible.” I’m not sure why, but it reminds me of the spiritual reality that exists alongside what I can see and touch. That’s sometimes a tough sell to an engineering type.
Each of the biblical characters mentioned had a time of testing. Their faith was expressed by their response and action, and it pleased God. That is the ultimate goal of every Christian.
Dave, hoping to pass the test of faith.
-sdg-
Election 2008
November 7, 2008
Election 2008 will doubtless be plumbed and picked at by historians for many years to come. Most of what we are reading about the election today, and will be reading for many months to come, is emotional, off-the-cuff stuff based on the writer’s political presuppositions.
The Orlop (my alter ego and memoir) is expecting me to comment on the election (sigh!). Not sigh as in regret about the election outcome, but sigh as in reluctance to contribute more silly words to those already out there.
I honor what president-elect Obama has accomplished. Exactly how he did it will be studied for years to come, but it is an astounding political accomplishment to create a coalition in today’s divisive political and social environment resulting in 52% of the popular vote. Whether this constitutes a mandate or not is arguable, but it is an amazing feat, nonetheless. I congratulate him for it and wish him well.
Managing a wildly successful political campaign is one thing; governing a large and diverse nation is quite another. The outpourings of good will from all over the world are a big plus, but they will cool. Our economic crisis has been brewing for at least 40 years, and most of the quick fixes being discussed today will most likely be counter-productive. I pray that our new president will get wise economic advice. A crisis that took decades to create may take more than one election cycle to fix, and what constitutes a ‘fix’ is still up for grabs.
President-elect Obama is stepping into a crucible of testing, one that calls for an extraordinary governing team with long-range vision. Will he govern well and wisely, will he preside over a series of catastrophes that bring more hurt to all of us, or somewhere in between? The world is watching.
Dave, a tad worried about the future of his grand-kids.
Bible diary - Hebrews 10:32-39
November 2, 2008
These words were written to Christians who were undergoing persecution and trials far beyond anything I have experienced. What truth is there here for me under my cushy circumstances?
10:32 But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. 10:33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. 10:34 For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. 10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. 10:37 For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay. 10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. 10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Well, it reminds me that there are countless Christians in today’s world who are experiencing unthinkable suffering. Most of them are not close to home, but they are there, and they are suffering. God may or may not lead me to respond in some tangible way, but I should make myself aware of such suffering and listen for what God may have to say to me about it.
Then, I am reminded that I would do well to hold on to my possessions loosely. As the saying goes, I can’t take my toys and luxuries with me. God knows I have a grand lot of them. I thoroughly enjoy them and thank God for them, but I certainly don’t need them. I don’t know in detail what awaits me after my short spell on earth, but I’m pretty darned sure that I won’t need or miss our lake condo, for instance.
I hope to be counted as one who lives by faith and is prepared for any suffering that comes my way.
Dave
-sdg-
