Show Me the Money

I'm noticing something that isn't new. I'm fairly sure that everyone else is noticing it too, so this isn't a new idea or thought or anything profound, but here it is.

The United States is experiencing a financial crisis that is being felt in one way or another by nearly everyone in the country. People are losing their jobs, unemployment near 9% last time I heard, stock market is down, housing market struggling to keep ahead of foreclosures, etc. If you've been near a news source I'm sure you've heard this and more.

Meanwhile CEOs collect multi-million dollar salaries, athletes sign multi-million dollar contracts, and the government scrambles to "rescue the economy." Kari came home from Starbucks today and said they were slammed all day. When I drove past the mall, the parking lot was packed.

If what I'm observing even smells of accuracy, it seems like consumerism is alive and well even if stiffled a bit by a limiting of credit. Now, in the spirit of transparency, I've got plenty of debt. Kari and I have two mortgages and we've used credit to get by when not enough deals closed in a particular month. We're not victims by any means in this situation. We are participants and perpetuators. I'm not proud of it, but its the way it is.

Anyway...

The thought that I'm having started being formed last Wednesday. I was down at UW sitting around a table full of college students talking about life. One of them said he likes watching C-Span. I didn't know anyone liked watching C-Span. We talked a bit about the economy and the trouble we face as a country in trying to recover from the trouble we're in.

Later that night I heard more than one person pray for our country's economic situation, and that's where the thought sparked. Why would God want to restore our HEAVILY consumerist economy? I understand that He loves us, He blesses us (not always financially no matter what Casey Treat says), He is the source of every good and perfect gift. So why would He want to restore a system that worships clothes, cars, and houses, like golden calves? Wouldn't it be better for us to wander through the desert for 40 years

(Yes I almost wrote dessert, but who wouldn't want to wander through dessert more than through the desert?)