What everyone knows has now been confirmed. Our country is in an official economic recession. Bush and company, dark souls that they are, have almost completed their work. Everything they have touched has broken. On one level they have evidenced what will one day become known as legendary incompetence. But mostly their destructive power has been the logical consequence of their greed, the drunkenness of arrogance, the cruelty of an insatiable appetite for dominance, spiritually known as idolatry. The result is an emotionally, relationally, intellectually, and economically bankrupt nation.
Our immediate future is not bright. The coming year will be one of great hardship. Many will lose their jobs, their health care, and their housing. Many will suffer the loss of their honor, their self respect, and the intimate relationships that give one hope. As a Pastor I know that I will spend more of my time being present with my congregation, encouraging them, and reminding them that if we hang together we'll get through the storm. If we share our resources, if we open our homes, if we deepen our friendship with each other, then our community, our little slice of Seattle will get through the storm.
We know that the poor will bear the greatest burden. Those with low-end jobs will lose them. Those without jobs, or who work only occasionally, will cease to work at all. Given the contraction of our economy, and given the dull heart of our mayor (combined with a disturbing loss of courage and vision by our City Council), what we also know is that human beings will not be the first priority of government. More Tent Cities will be erected, and more civil disturbance will be unleashed. It is not for nothing that a new city jail is pushing itself up the economic priority list.
The immediate future looks to be a frightening storm that will test our character as a people. Thankfully we will have new federal leadership to help our nation through its time of crisis. Hopefully the new administration will actually love our people, and affirm our core values embodied in the words of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Nevertheless, it will still take time to bring order out of Bush's chaos, to bring life from the Bush administration's culture of death.
In the meantime my encouragement, particularly to the poor, and to those on the margins of society, is to invest your time and presence in a faith community of liberal values. Capitalism hangs us out to dry all alone. A faith community weaves us into a new society of solidarity, a reminder that we are each one of us an asset, and that together we become the light that banishes the darkness. We have survived eight dark years, now is the time to let our light once again shine, and shine brightly.