Cultural Discernment

Last week was a tough week in my travels. L.A. on Monday early, then on to Reno for a trade show, and home late Saturday night. Sometimes I feel that the body can be shuttled from one place to the next at supersonic speeds, but the spirit travels by ground, taking time to catch up.
There is a surreal aspect of traveling as well, in that the news of the world is caught in bits and pieces and the full story not really understood until the traveler has a chance to get home, see what is happening and has time to reflect on the events shaping our world.

With all that said, I was not able to hear the full story on the financial crisis in our world until yesterday, and contemplate what it all means.
And as I contemplated the reverberations of this event, it occurred to me that the moral fiber that America has always been so proud of will be sorely tested in this event. How will we respond? Accusations are flying, finger-pointing by political candidates is in every sound bite, pundits are telling us that we will lose it all; our savings, our investments, our security, our homes, even our babies will be born naked. The sky is indeed falling.
So how do we handle this? We worship at the golden altar of security only to find that the altar is not golden at all, but a shiny, poorly crafted, card table, with wobbly legs and not enough chairs. Now what?
Well, we need to look again at the real problem. We have lost our way morally. This is not a conversation to point our fingers at others who are different, or assign the current hardship to God's revenge. When I say morally, I'm talking about the fact that our entire significance is based on the all-important "me." We are involved in a system that habitually abuses people who are not very fortunate to begin with. While our single-minded pursuit of security may not be the cause of their hardship, it is a part of the system that utilizes this misfortune.
This time will, indeed, test us. Are we willing to live lives that help others? even when we are suffering? Are we willing to cash in our chips in the blame game and use our resources for others? Can we return again to the deep and important meanings of words like honor, integrity, compassion when it seems certain that we will be destroyed financially. You see, morality is simply doing the right thing at the risk of losing everything.
My brother compiled a book called Do Not Be Afraid, which is a collection of stories about people staring into the dark unknown, but called to do the right thing. These are stories of tragedy and doubt, but also of courage and moral firmness. We live in frightening times, but these are also times of incredible moral opportunities. We need to be a voice of hope and discernment about what is really at play.
Godspeed, my friends.
Don