Monday, August 17, 2009
Where Do We Go From Here?
Val J. Peter
INTRODUCTION:
It should be clear from everything said in the prior seven chapters that Americans overspent, have become too dependent on that spending for our wellbeing and have, in some ways, succumb to the dangers of consumerism and affluence which simply means expecting, not just wanting, but expecting more goods and more services year after year after year. The current economic downturn is not just a minor bump in the road. It is the major milestone in the last 100 years. America has lost its economic prominence and many, many Americans are hurting financially and emotionally.
We can seize the moment in this economic downturn to orient our lives as individuals, as families and as a nation. This can be done in the following ways:
1. Many of us have lived departmentalized lives, with one part of us dedicated to materialistic pursuits and the other part dedicated to the service of God and the love of our brothers and sisters. In a sense, we have lived in two silos. The first step in these tough economic times is to break those silos apart, to put less emphasis on material goods and to make the goal of union with God and others in God our primary unitary goal with all else subordinate to it. We cannot serve both God and mammon!
Let us compare our options:
(a) Our culture says: our identity is determined by what we have, what we buy. Our faith tells us that our identity is determined by who we are and the people we are, how we are related to God and our neighbor, our family, our brothers, our sisters.
(b) Our consumer side says: that buying is good and will make us happy. Our Christian side will say that buying needs to be moderated, will not make us happy, but what will make us happy is loving God and caring for others. It involves prayer and the sacraments.
(c) Our consumer side will say that the solution to life’s problems lies in spending, in purchasing material things and even such things as vacations and trips. Our Christian side will say that the solution to life’s problems lies in trust in God, in values, hard work and education.
(d) Our consumer side will say that a good life is a materially successful life. Our Christian side will say that a good life is a good family life and a life of virtue and service.
(e) Our material side will say the primary goal of life is to garner material possessions. Our Christian side will say the primary goal of life: love the Lord with our whole heart and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves.
2. Bringing ourselves to a spiritual equilibrium or a state of spiritual health means that material things of our lives that serve us are means to an end and not an end in themselves. Material surroundings must do what we want them to do instead of us doing what our material surroundings want us to do.
3. It should be very clear that just as we need to live more frugally that the poor need to be helped to live more humanly.
We must consistently reject the mantra: “I want it all. I want it now.” We must work hard to loath the greed of capitalist society, “the unquenchable thirst for temporal possessions.” In other words, more and more is not better and better. To say that another way, we Christians are not inclined to look with great favor on mammon.
We pursue the good life, even the prosperous life, but we put God first. We refuse to abandon life at any stage of its development. We do not believe in socialism. We do not believe in unfettered capitalism.
4. Our hearts must be obedient to the Lord in terms of the use of money, material possessions and goals and dreams. The Lord intends to redeem the whole world, to redeem all of us as a people and even to redeem the economic realities of our lives.
In the past, the economics courses we took in universities were individualistic (how do I make a lot of money with little or not thought given to how my individualistic economic goals impact others, both near and far). Individualism was a characteristic of the Age of Enlightenment, but relationality in economics is what we need today. We need our economic and political leaders to think of the betterment of the worlds’ poor just as much as our betterment.
5. The Lord is our goal. Our real wealth is our family and relationships! Faith, hope and charity are our priceless possessions. Praise is our wealth. The whole Christ, head and body. We live in an increasingly pagan culture which needs to be Christianized. We need to integrate our religious values with our financial values and our community values and the time to begin is now.
Val J. Peter
INTRODUCTION:
It should be clear from everything said in the prior seven chapters that Americans overspent, have become too dependent on that spending for our wellbeing and have, in some ways, succumb to the dangers of consumerism and affluence which simply means expecting, not just wanting, but expecting more goods and more services year after year after year. The current economic downturn is not just a minor bump in the road. It is the major milestone in the last 100 years. America has lost its economic prominence and many, many Americans are hurting financially and emotionally.
We can seize the moment in this economic downturn to orient our lives as individuals, as families and as a nation. This can be done in the following ways:
1. Many of us have lived departmentalized lives, with one part of us dedicated to materialistic pursuits and the other part dedicated to the service of God and the love of our brothers and sisters. In a sense, we have lived in two silos. The first step in these tough economic times is to break those silos apart, to put less emphasis on material goods and to make the goal of union with God and others in God our primary unitary goal with all else subordinate to it. We cannot serve both God and mammon!
Let us compare our options:
(a) Our culture says: our identity is determined by what we have, what we buy. Our faith tells us that our identity is determined by who we are and the people we are, how we are related to God and our neighbor, our family, our brothers, our sisters.
(b) Our consumer side says: that buying is good and will make us happy. Our Christian side will say that buying needs to be moderated, will not make us happy, but what will make us happy is loving God and caring for others. It involves prayer and the sacraments.
(c) Our consumer side will say that the solution to life’s problems lies in spending, in purchasing material things and even such things as vacations and trips. Our Christian side will say that the solution to life’s problems lies in trust in God, in values, hard work and education.
(d) Our consumer side will say that a good life is a materially successful life. Our Christian side will say that a good life is a good family life and a life of virtue and service.
(e) Our material side will say the primary goal of life is to garner material possessions. Our Christian side will say the primary goal of life: love the Lord with our whole heart and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves.
2. Bringing ourselves to a spiritual equilibrium or a state of spiritual health means that material things of our lives that serve us are means to an end and not an end in themselves. Material surroundings must do what we want them to do instead of us doing what our material surroundings want us to do.
3. It should be very clear that just as we need to live more frugally that the poor need to be helped to live more humanly.
We must consistently reject the mantra: “I want it all. I want it now.” We must work hard to loath the greed of capitalist society, “the unquenchable thirst for temporal possessions.” In other words, more and more is not better and better. To say that another way, we Christians are not inclined to look with great favor on mammon.
We pursue the good life, even the prosperous life, but we put God first. We refuse to abandon life at any stage of its development. We do not believe in socialism. We do not believe in unfettered capitalism.
4. Our hearts must be obedient to the Lord in terms of the use of money, material possessions and goals and dreams. The Lord intends to redeem the whole world, to redeem all of us as a people and even to redeem the economic realities of our lives.
In the past, the economics courses we took in universities were individualistic (how do I make a lot of money with little or not thought given to how my individualistic economic goals impact others, both near and far). Individualism was a characteristic of the Age of Enlightenment, but relationality in economics is what we need today. We need our economic and political leaders to think of the betterment of the worlds’ poor just as much as our betterment.
5. The Lord is our goal. Our real wealth is our family and relationships! Faith, hope and charity are our priceless possessions. Praise is our wealth. The whole Christ, head and body. We live in an increasingly pagan culture which needs to be Christianized. We need to integrate our religious values with our financial values and our community values and the time to begin is now.
posted by Fr. Peter | 2:43 PM
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