November 13, 2008
Posted by Claire
Responding to the Next, Pending, Up and Coming, Horrible, Terrible, Disaster
I am not being an ostrich, but some may accuse me of being one. I am having a hard time digging my bomb shelter, buying my 5000 pounds of oats, and shelter water this time. I know we are in a crisis, but is overreaction a necessary evil? I think I am tired.
I will never forget Y2K and all of the hullabaloo around that. I have friends who are still in debt over the stock pile they bought and the shelter they built. It was all for what? Nothing. I will never forget attending a town meeting where people were literally in tears and biting their nails over what would happen on January 1, 2000. You know what I did that day? I got up, checked my email, pumped gas in my car, and stopped by an ATM to get cash out. It all worked and everything was fine.
Still, other than planning and being as careful and wise as you can be, would a huge panic stock of oats, canned goods and other stuff be a good thing? I couldn’t believe the panic and insanity that was around me then. I am starting to see it again to a degree.
Now I know it’s critical to cut way back on spending right now, keep your money as safe as possible and to be wise about the way you’re living. If purchasing a firearm gives you peace of mind right now, then do it.
I don’t deny our Country is in dire straits financially. The way that our leaders are handling it is beyond foolish. I have a 4-year old who understands more about the value of saving and the purpose of a dollar than the majority of our Congress members. What part of “Keep your sticky fingers and grubby hands out of the free market!” don’t they understand? I digress
I don’t know. How many times can you recall this Chicken Little reaction happening in your lifetime?
Here’s all of the “Sky is Falling” moments I can recall (these are just a few… I know this happens every decade, but not to the degree we see it today… I admit that):
- Vietnam War and all of the civil insanity around it
- The Cold War and the Russians (remember the raid practices where you had to hide under a school desk, say a prayer and kiss your own butt good-bye? I mean a school desk? Please!)
- The nuclear threats and crisis as part of the Cold War
- The Oil Crisis of 1973 and 1979
- Savings and Loans disaster of the 80′s and the housing market crash then
- Stock Market Crash of ’87
- Y2K (stock up on water and oats! We’re all going to die!!)
- September 11, 2001 and the two middle eastern wars (the MOST serious and true threat of all, but in true fashion we freaked out for a while and then forgot all about it. Yawn. Are we still at war?)
- and now the housing market and other free market failings. I say free market, but really what we are seeing is a metamorphosis from a free to a government controlled market — and that’s never, ever, a good thing.
One summation of Newton’s Laws of Motion is often used in a lot of situations (I have heard it used when discussing combat, for example): For a force there is always an equal and opposite reaction. We should have an equal and opposite reaction to the decisions our leaders are making. I am not a financial expert, but many of the experts are saying that if we are wise and watch our money — cut back and stop spending and start saving, we will weather this storm.
I am not being a Pollyanna. We certainly will have our share of very difficult times ahead. I am just trying to remind myself, as a Christian, that I need to learn to not panic. God provided sweet water to drink for the Israelites from a stick that Moses cast into the Dead Sea (or at least historians believe that’s the same body of water they came to right after their exodus). God then provided them with miracle upon miracle! To name a few miracles, quail came to them and manna fell from heaven, guidance, providence, and protection were provided — a light by night and a cloud by day, and the defeat of the entire BEST of the best of Pharaoh’s army! Do you think He would do any less for us?
In closing, let me leave you with the closing paragraph from what is becoming my favorite Christmas book this year:
“It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season — like all the other seasons — is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and be grateful for them, and that’s the end of this particular story.” — Lemony Snicket, The Lump of Coal
Maybe we are just waking up and realizing how we have had a world’s worth of miracles in our hands, every day, all day, as Americans. Maybe we are afraid we have taken them for granted to the point of fatness and complacency. Maybe, that realization and correcting our own paths is a miracle!
Plan for tomorrow. Plan for the crisis we face as a Nation, but don’t ever forget about the miracle you have today, in this very moment. To forget would be a damning form of bankruptcy.
7 Comments
November 14, 2008
Thank you for saying what needed to be said, Claire. As usual your way with words is so eloquent. I have often thought over the past weeks “what exactly does America expect from this situation?” Things will not change overnight, its sort of like gaining weight…..sure you got here pretty damn quick….but it will take some time to get out…..you can pack on those pounds fast, but losing them takes work and effort…..same goes for where we are right now, but panic and overreaction will not be the answer…..
January 1, 2000, I was sleeping in, heck it was New Years Day….the night before we were out partying like it was 1999, isn’t that what Prince told all of us kids of the 80′s to do anyway? (not really but I was sleeping in) …….and just as things before……..this too shall pass.
And I too believe that God will see us out of the darkness……the miracles of every day life are what keep us going……tonight I dug out the first of many Christmas trees that I put up in our house and I decorated it with our children, sure its a couple weeks early, but what it did was brighten our moods and lighten our spirits and with that…..we all will go to bed tonight thinking of happy times with family and friends around the fire this holiday season, not giving of monetary gifts so much as giving of one another, sharing hot cider ……a quiet holiday season together…..what we did not have last year……and being thankful to God for being able to have that…….
Yes, it’s always good to be prepared, to do less is foolish, but to act all out like the sky is truly falling…..well, unless it is the second coming and you are not ready…..then I think you have overshot your target! Lighten up and enjoy life, it’s short and you don’t get to redo it!
November 14, 2008
Nicely said, and if I trusted the Government to solve my problems then they could save my soul, too. But it doesn’t work that way, I will keep Keepin’ on. Don’t know where those Bitter Clingers are, after work today I was smiling.
November 14, 2008
AMEN! I often remind myself – and others – after the darkness, comes the dawn! ALWAYS!!! It is promised.
November 14, 2008
Good post–I stockpiled some food for the Y2K thing without going into debt at all by taking a middle, moderate ground. Unfortunately much of it went to waste and I will not allow that to happen again.
Now I believe in having some backup for emergencies (food, savings, etc) but one could never plan on every little or big scenario that could happen, could they? So for me being prudent and wise is good but in the end—you either trust God or you don’t…..I am working on trusting HIM
)
November 14, 2008
I was wondering when I was going to see Claire on the current state of affairs *grin* Nicely said, thank you. I appear to have gone mute. Every time I think of posting I lose my composure and can’t post what I said because it was so not nice.
November 14, 2008
Great post, Claire. Even though my husband has been unemployed for 11 months, there’s been no panic. We can still see the miracles which surround us, and have been blessed with enough.
November 15, 2008
Amen, Sister! Thanks for snapping your fingers in my face and bringing me back to reality, that is, the reality that I find in the pages of His blessed Word. He will never, ever, never, ever leave us or forsake us. I was just having one of those momentary crisis of faith **grin**. As the Newsboys sing, “If I rise on wings of dawn or drift in seas of doubt, even there Your strong right hand has never failed to guide me out. Great is Your faithfulness to carry on with a sinner like me. Great is Your faithfulness…turning shame into victory. Lord Your goodness…goodness never…never fails. It never fails me! Amen.” [Amen is MINE!]
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