God Now And Forever

There are good times and there are bad times. Now is not a very good time. That is a fact. We are in an economic repression and there is no money to buffer the stresses of everyday living. It is difficult to cast caution to the wind and enjoy a vacation, a night out at the movies, or a meal at a favorite restaurant when there is not enough money to meet every day needs. Many claim we are in another great depression similar to the great depression experienced by those who lived through the 1930's.

Working class families are crowded in small substandard apartments or homeless shelters while single middle-class people live in nice big houses alone with their dog or cat. Working class children have become latch key children because parents can not afford to pay the cost of quality child care while they work. At the same time, dog owners drop their loyal friends off at doggie day care on their way to work. Working class children are thin and undernourished and do not have the coins for a hot school lunch while Rover on the other side of town eats Gourmet Delight. Animal Clinics are thriving while human hospitals are threatening to shut down. Spot and Rover receive quality medical care and regular dental cleanings while we of the masses go without.

Our social networks are crumbling and people no longer trust one another. It is difficult to trust a health care system when you pay high deductibles and co-pays for medical insurance and still get a bill for $600,000 for a needed surgery because your insurance refused to pay. It is difficult to trust an educational system that burdens you with a high student loan debt and a job isn't there for you following graduation. It is difficult to trust law enforcement while law abiding citizens are routinely detained and harassed for non-criminal activities while home invasion crimes, murders, and rape crimes go unnoticed and unsolved.

In our capitalist society there is always the great push to maximize profit for the least effort. If we have doctors in business, they will keep their practices filled to capacity so they can earn maximum profit. If we have private hospitals they will admit patients and perform surgeries to yield the highest corporate earnings. If we have a large police force they will write tickets to meet their quotas so they can account for their time and demonstrate that they are indispensable to maintain law and order in an unruly society. If we have Social Workers they will go into people's home to investigate allegations and look for reasons to remove a child or elder from the family home. If we have restaurants they will sell food that taste good but lacks nutritional value so they can keep the customer satisfied and the bottom line in the black instead of in the red.

Jesus did tell us that the workman is worthy of his wages but in our eagerness to humbly serve one another as Jesus humbly served we somehow manage to cross the fine line between good and evil and we end up holding one another hostage as we routinely attend to our daily duties.

Perhaps it is time to step back and look at the big picture and give some consideration to how we might humbly serve one another so that we actually improve our quality of life instead of exploiting one another while we attempt to meet our needs. Perhaps it is time we look a little closer at happiness and life satisfaction studies and come to the realization that family, friends, stability, security, equality, and freedom are all important factors to consider in meeting basic human needs. Perhaps we should realize that we are spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social beings as well as biological organisms. Perhaps it is time to consider that if we meet our higher level needs our lower level physical needs will automatically improve as well.

Perhaps we all need to follow our Lord's great example and put God first in our lives as we interact with each other so we can leave one another in peace at the close of each day and when our life's work on earth has been completed.