I do not know who might have first said it, but I often now remind myself that if a problem can be solved using only money, it is not a big problem. Our problems as a nation at this time in our history are big problems. Unfortunately, money will not be enough to solve them.
What do I mean? The most difficult issues we face today could all be well described as personal, social, cultural—spiritual decay and deterioration. For many decades now, we have tried to convince ourselves that there is no God of the Judeo-Christian heritage, that we are much too intelligent and modern for such nonsense. As a corollary of this, we think that all we need to do is throw formerly billions and now trillions of dollars at an issue and it can and will be fixed!
On October 4th, 1997, I, my two sons, many from Independence and all around the US met together on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by Promise Keepers and other Christian organizations, at least hundreds of thousands of men and boys gathered that day without violence, heard speakers, and knelt in prayer to the God in whom many of us still believe.
In the ensuing 25 years, can anyone say that conditions in our country have improved? Then it seemed as though some parts of our lives were still in some semblance of order, but now many matters we thought we knew for sure seem to be laid on foundations of quicksand.
If they have not improved but indeed continued to deteriorate, what cause shall we assign to this trend? Is this proof that the God of history does not exist? I suggest that as Shakespeare said almost a millenia ago, The fault is in ourselves, that we are underlings. Decades ago, Pogo cartoon character put it thus: We have met the enemy and he is us!
The stock market will recover. The uptick of the past two days might suggest the worst bleeding is over, but the selling will end and a new uptrend should begin at some point. The more important question about the future of our national soul is whether we will stop digging the spiritual hole in which we find ourselves. This is the hole easily described by the ruining of our lives and those of our family members by alcohol and drug abuse, sexual abuse and addictions, our inability to live in peace with our families.
I am not only a believer in a historical man named Jesus. I believe that he was God as well as man, that he died, was buried and was resurrected, and now lives supernaturally in the hearts of all people who recognize their need for a perfect God because we are so imperfect and selfish. The Bible records time after time that his people of Israel turned away from him, suffered horrible consequences, and were renewed to health, joy and prosperity as they turned their hearts and attention back to him.
You can rant and rave that there is no such God today, but I and many others know he lives because in spite of the garbage all around us, we know his presence and blessing. I commend it to you heartily. As Dr. Phil might say, How is the alternative working out for us? Each of us has a choice if we are still breathing. We still have some amount of time and God still loves us and hates to see us wallowing in our misery. This is not a financial problem.