The State of the World

The news is a black hole these days - how do you go in and not come out with at least some fear clinging to you? At the same time I do believe that to be a follower of Jesus means having no fear. The financial meltdown of our country looks to be the worst thing that could happen to us but is it really? Did we really think that being 20% of the world's population consuming 80% of the world's resources would go on forever? Yet I would be lying if I said I didn't want to have more, even after seeing images of extreme poverty around the world. I think the wake up call for me was when we started developing biofuels so that we could continue our independently convenient lifestyles. That led to further shortages of food around the world. In my mind I finally connected that my need to drive our van was causing people to starve to death. So I finally started riding my bike or walking to the grocery store. I can't buy as much since I can't carry as much so I'm learning to buy only what we really need. Let me tell you, Costco is a whole new experience when you have to limit yourself to what will fit in a backpack (once I took a duffle bag but it wasn't very comfortable to wear home.) Little changes but at least it's a start.
I think God is doing something very big in our world today and a financial reorganization may be the most gracious thing that happens to us Americans. We might learn to consume less and share more. But only if we don't give into the fear. Don't give into the fear.