The Backwash

So I’ve been on this quest to re-read the Proverbs.  Admittedly, my reading velocity has been sluggish, but I’m continuing.  Today I ran across something that corresponds to today’s economic situation.

First, let me be clear that I do NOT think this is the “worst economic downturn since the great depression.”  That phrase is not only incendiary, but simply not in-line with the facts.  I, rather, believe this is the worst economic downturn since 1975.  The unemployment rate is not even 1/3 of what it was during the great depression, and the majority of Americans are not eating dirt.

Now with that said, I, like most of us, know first-hand situations of friends, relatives, and maybe even some of you good readers who have experienced job loss due to this downturn.  I certainly don’t mean to minimize the situation – I just want to look at the reality in line with the facts.

So how does Proverbs fit in?  Well, today I read Proverbs 23 and a couple of verses there hit me between the eyes.  Consider this from Proverbs 23: 4&5:

Do not wear yourself out to get rich
have the wisdom to show restraint.
Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Wow.

Solomon, richer than any human before or since (yes…Warren Buffet has only a percentage of the total worth of Solomon), describes wealth for what it is:  fleeting.

Can any scripture more aptly describe the last six months beginning in September?  Aren’t the stock market boards as well as banking institutions a case study that riches can be gone in a glance?  Haven’t you, like me, seen your 401-K value “sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle?”

Maybe it takes a (fill in your word here: downturn, recession, correction, bust, etc.) to help us realize that even many of us who are God-believers have been gorging ourselves on spending.  Maybe we are learning the lesson to “have the wisdom to show restraint.”

Don’t believe the hype – believe the facts.

• This is not the worst time since the Depression
• Proverbs 23 has a few things to tell us about times EXACTLY like this

And while you consider the facts, say a prayer for those affected by job loss during this time.  When I worked at Comcast, a gentleman I worked for named Kevin Gardner one day told me “good people don’t get laid-off” when I was considering hiring a person who had experienced job loss from another company.  Ten years later, I realize just what an idiotic and pathetically short-sighted comment this was (I hired the guy, by the way, against Kevin’s wishes).  Unfortunately, good people DO get laid-off, and they all need our prayers.  Despite your circumstance, though, don’t miss the lesson from Proverbs 23.  It can help us all to look at riches in a completely different way than the roaring 90’s and early 2000’s.

-MH

I don’t do many music reviews because I tend to leave those to people who KNOW music like Randy Williams.  What follows is not from the standpoint of a musician – goodness knows I’m not one – but rather from my standpoint of likes and dislikes.  And, no, this won’t take long.

I have a lot of love for U2’s new release “No Line on the Horizon.”  It is so rare that I get a CD that I like every track – but this is one of those.  In fact, I listened to it over and over during the collective 9.5 hours I was on airplanes since Wednesday of this week.  It is definitely worth a listen even if you are remotely a U2 fan.  If you are one of those music snobs that thinks no big mega-band can be good and that they are usually sell-outs, then this certainly won’t please you (if anything does other than your back-alley oddball music that makes zero sense and will only be produced by a garage record label).

So, in short, I like…and if I can score some tickets to anywhere in this country where they may come on the tour I’ll burn the air miles to get there.

-MH
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