Saved by Saving Money

On Thursday I was at the church, doing some work, when I received a call from my Dad asking when my wife, Heather, was coming back from New York City. She had gone up there as part of her job, a trip she takes every month. My Dad had called home and, having stirred my daughter from her afternoon nap, asked when her mother was coming home. "Sometime later this afternoon." "Thanks hon," and he hung up and called me. He told me that a US Air plane had crashed in the Hudson River on takeoff. Our conversation went something like this:

"Was Heather on that flight?"

"No Dad, she came home last night but this flight is the usual flight she takes when she comes home on Thursday's. However, in an attempt to save money, the company had some of their people (buyers) come home a day earlier. She's at work here in town today."

"Praise the Lord! When I talked to your daughter and she said Heather was coming home later this afternoon, my heart sank."

I called my wife to check on her - sort of making sure that she did in fact come home the night before - and to see what she was hearing at work about the crash. There were several fellow co-workers on that flight but what she was hearing was that everyone was OK but really shaken. She said one lady was going to retire next year but had called and said that this was it, she was retiring now. I can't blame her, I guess. Heather and I chatted a bit, thanking God that a money saving maneuver had spared her the trauma of the crash, if not her life. We joked that she would have probably been the only fatality because she would have died from just thinking about getting into the cold water and freezing air.

I received several other calls, from family and church people, even got a couple of emails from friends, asking about Heather's safety. She said that her phone was ringing off the hook from her vendors in NYC, seeing if she had in fact come home early. It all seemed a little surreal to us, getting the phone calls and then watching the news and video of the crash, seeing people that she knew being pulled off the plane and onto the boats. But it must be even more surreal for those who, in 5 minutes, went from take off to crashing in the water and then being surrounded by boats, pulling them to safety. As one guy said, "I still can't believe that I'm alive. It was a miracle, simply a miracle." And it was, with no one seriously injured; it just amazes me that they all walked away.

It makes me wonder though, how many of those people, in those few horrifying minutes, turned their minds to heaven and prayed to God, asking for help and safety? How many of them, up to that moment, had put God pretty much outside of their day to day lives, not giving Him much of a thought? And now that they are on land, some already at home with their families and friends, does God still hold the same significance He held for them in those few moments of uncertainty when they were praying to Him?

We'll never know but it does make me think about my own life, and how, for a day or so, we were reminded that we have no clue what will happen tomorrow but we do know that God holds it firmly in His hands. Even more importantly, He holds us in His hands and that, no matter what may happen, I hope this will constantly serve as a reminder to my family that God is not just a God you turn to when things go crashing around you but He is, must be, our God whom we give ourselves to on a daily, moment by moment, basis.

There's also another lesson to take away from this: Saving money could possibly save your life!

The Greed Connection

It has been almost a month since my last entry. A lot has happened since then. We have had two presidential conventions, two hurricanes, financial institutional crises, and falling gas prices - well, until last Wednesday when gas started to go up even while oil prices continued to fall.

Having watched both political conventions and the aftermath of both, I have had a lot of thoughts running around my head about politics in general and our presidential candidates specifically. It is probably best to leave those thoughts in my head but suffice it to say, I'm not happy with either candidate and their approach to campaigning and I have grown tired of the news media and their blatant hypocrisy and misrepresentation of the facts. Now I'll move on.

Sunday was our stewardship campaign kickoff at my church. I preached on the subject of stewardship. I've never done a sermon on the subject in conjunction with a financial campaign so I was a little apprehensive going in to it. I did a lot of reading and studying on stewardship, wanting to approach it from a more "holistic" view. So I talked more about stewardship in the context of all that we have been given from God to care for, distribute and enjoy. My hope was that I would be able to challenge my listeners to a deeper understanding and commitment of all that we have in this life and view ourselves as caretakers of God's blessings. I don't know if I succeeded in that or not.

However, I had a couple of people say to me afterwards that it was a good message on money and one visitor who said that they looked forward to hearing me preach on something other than money. Interesting, I only mentioned money twice in my message, the first time explaining that stewardship isn't just about money, and the second time as part of a list of a number of things that God has given us to care for! However, this response actually confirmed something for me.

In the process of my reading and listening to a few sermons on stewardship, I began to get a growing sense that our problem with the issue of stewardship, whether it be with our stewardship of our money or the stewardship of the earth, is greed - our growing desire to have and to own and to think of "me" first in connection to all the things that I "have" in my "possession." To paraphrase Donna Summer, I "work hard for the money," therefore, I'm not so willing to let go of the things that I have worked so hard for to make my life easier, more complete, and more satisfying.

I've watched with interest, and with some worry, the demise of Lehman Brothers, the amazingly rapid sell of Merrill Lynch, the propping up of Fanny May and Freddie Mac, and the growing uncertainty in the market about other financial institutions. And I wonder what is behind it all. What is behind the housing collapse? What caused Enron to go under and the dot coms of the 90's to implode?

Greed.

What causes a person to max out their credit card and then open a new credit card account (the average American has seven!) ?

Greed.

Why does a church goer spend $100 dollars a week on eating out but can only put in two or three percent of their paycheck in the offering every payperiod because they don't have any money left?

Greed.

Why do people in power, whether a leader in a company or a member of the government, begin to take kickbacks, twist the truth, add earmarks to bills, or behave in a morally inappropriate way?

Greed.

Let's be honest - America, "the most powerful country in the world," is also the richest, the most in debt, and the most wasteful. We exemplify greed. Our culture, with Wallstreet, Madison Ave., and Hollywood, is built on the concept of having and getting more.

Please understand me, I'm not against earning a living, working your way to the top, or enjoying the things that are available in this world. But I have found myself beginning to see, in myself certainly, that much of the way I approach living in this world comes out of some form of greed, the desire to have and to have more, first for me and then, whatever is left over, to God and to others. That seems to be a rather mixed up understanding of how we are to live as Christ Followers, doesn't it?

I think we Christians need to rethink about a few thing in our lives as it pertains to our finances and material possesions but also, just as much, in reference to our use of time, talants, power, opportunities and God's creation. I think that greed may play a larger part in who we are than we ever realized or are willing to admit.

Now I'm just wondering if I should take the risk and preach about this on Sunday!?