Whether you believe in a supreme being or not you’d have to admit that humans have an inbuilt desire to worship. You might not call it worship but we do have a strong tendency to raise people or things high on the pedestals of our desire.
We worship other people, money, success and many other things in our lives. We give ourselves completely and often stake our lives on whatever it is that becomes our god.
The worldwide financial crisis has brought the death of god for many people across the globe. Many people who have put their trust in riches are now scrambling to keep their heads above water. Even those who would have said that money and financial security weren’t the most important things in their lives have started to see just what a hold it has had on them.
This story tells us about a man who found the current crisis too much too handle. Without the trappings of riches he felt it was better that his entire family was dead, so he killed his wife, his three sons and his mother-in-law before taking his own life. Police found three letters he had left in the family home detailing his financial difficulties. What a terrible tragedy. It’s so sad to think that someone believed so strongly that death was better than life without money that he threw away so many precious lives.
I’d have to admit that Bono has given the current crisis a bit of perspective that’s hard to argue against.
It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire (Group of Eight nations) can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable disease and hunger.
I guess it’s a reminder to us once again to decide carefully where we choose to put our trust. When our god is money, we will be let down. When our god is other people, they will fail us. When our god is success, we will find it slipping through our fingers.
What or who will you choose to worship?
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. – 1 Timothy 6:17
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A great example today of why we shouldn’t base our judgements on appearances.
It’s always nice to win something and money’s always a pretty good prize.