Model a Different Way

Yesterday the US stock markets plunged another 7.3 percent, the seventh day of declines. World markets followed Wall Street’s cue, as key market gauges dropped 9.6 percent in Japan, 8 percent in India and 7.2 percent in Hong Kong, 7.3 percent in London, 7.7 percent in Germany and 7.5 percent in Paris. Radical pendulum swings between greed and fear always take a heavy toll.

On the personal side: 30-40% of our hard-fought savings seems to have disappeared. Apparently we’re one of the dozen or so people who haven’t liquidated all our mutual fund holdings, so we haven’t logged many actual losses… yet. The weird thing is that we’re actually considering buying a little more, once the dust settles. My dad was and still is a stockbroker, and his advice was to buy low and sell high. Hmm….

We have a golden opportunity to model blessing right now. People are afraid, angry and legitimately concerned. We can walk a different way by seeking to bless and give, to encourage and strive, to solve rather than criticize.

The amazingly fruitful ancient churches in Antioch and Philippi gave generously and sacrificially during times of others’ profound need. Most of us are probably experiencing a significant shift in excess resources, or non-essential wealth, right now. I pray we will not miss the opportunity to learn, trust and grow into a new level of maturity and contribution within and beyond our current circles of influence.

Let’s model a different way.