Scary Fincial Times

Written for Trinity's October 2008 Newsletter by Brian Baker

We are living in scary financial times. Banks have failed. Credit is getting harder to get. Our lawmakers are scrambling to shore up our nation’s financial system. While I know the crisis has complex causes, I have been considering our own culpability for the problem we are in. I feel like we, as a nation, have been on a massive consumerist binge. Housing values/prices have doubled and tripled, thus increasing the “wealth” of homeowners. While home prices tripled, salaries did not Folks bought homes they couldn’t really afford because credit was made readily available. We all wanted a piece of the crazy real estate market. Stores regularly offered deals where you could buy expensive toys without paying a penny for years. So we bought, and bought and bought.

To what end. Were we happier? Perhaps for a brief time. But the joy of shopping doesn’t last. The new item quickly becomes old, and in need of an upgrade.

Is our current economic crisis a problem that needs to be fixed so we can get back to life as it was before? Or is it an invitation to change the way we have been living?

I believe it is the latter. I believe we are being invited to live a simpler life. We can’t keep filling our lives with new stuff. The stuff never satisfied us in the first place. That’s why we wanted more. Why don’t we stop our consumerist binging and learn to become a loving, caring community with what we have. I don’t believe we need anything more to experience the Kingdom of Heaven. My most fulfilling moments come when I am serving or working with others to help make the world, or the life of an individual, better.

I am not wondering how this crisis will end. I know things will settle down. I am wondering whether or not we will allow this situation to be our teacher. Will we learn to live life differently?
I am so grateful to be a part of a congregation that is focused on experiencing God’s Kingdom right now and generously sharing God’s love with others.