Taking Stock
The misery inflicted by this week's floods and heavy snowfalls is not hard to imagine. No sooner has the rain or snow fallen than our television screens and newspapers are full of pictures of the chaos. In the same way, after a stockmarket crash such as last Monday's the media regale us with images of remarkably dressed but clearly depressed brokers. Nonetheless, most of us outside the City find it rather easier to sympathise with country dwellers knee-deep in floodwater than with young stockbrokers holding their heads in their hands.
It was somewhat startling, therefore, to read this take on the slump from the BBC's delightfully zealous Robert Peston:
'Few of us are immune {to} what's going on. Whether you are saving for a pension, a direct investor in shares and bonds or a Chancellor of the Exchequer dependent on tax revenues generated by the City, you would be right to feel a bit poorer this morning.'
And all because of fears about the US economy! Ah yes, but fears that, if realised, could result in job losses, tax increases and credit squeezes here in Britain. Such a chain of cause-and-effect reveals how much (whether we like it or not) we are all at the mercy of an economic system built on global commerce and, let's be honest, consumerism.
This is not to suggest that there is anything inherently wrong with business or the generation of wealth. The issue is how much importance we attach to them - 'for where your treasure is,' Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, 'there your heart will be also.' In the light of this, would he regard our vulnerability to the effects of a stockmarket fall as evidence that we have made acquisition and consumption our first priorities?
Naturally, we would like to think of ourselves as people who are rich in God's eyes - our savings, investments, pensions and insurances being all a matter of good stewardship rather than a storing-up of earthly treasure. And that may well be true. But in the wake of the events of the past week, it's worth taking stock. What, or who, do our lives really depend on?
As we do so, it is worth remembering that, while he never mentioned share prices, Jesus did tell a story about torrential rain and a property collapse. And he didn't see the need to include details of the clean-up and refurbishment costs.
Nigel Hopper
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