Wednesday, 22 October 2008

• The Joy of Sub-Prime Morgage Crisis

  I hadn't seen John in a while.  An MBA student, he became a Christian last spring and then left for Korea for an internship with a top retailer over the summer.  I haven't seen him all semester and wondered what became of him.  I worried about his faith and what it would look like without community.  We set up a lunch appointment.

  John was beaming when I met him.  "Anna," he says, "when we first met in Bible study this past January, my wife and I had just divorced and I was angry with God, in fact, blaming God for what happened.  But then I though, what if God is trying to tell me something in all this?  I've been learning so much about life, God and myself in suffering."

  He went on to talk about the peace and joy that he's found.  His heart has been healing as he finds himself on a journey to forgive his ex-wife, a strange power that he's discovered only through his newly-found relationship with Jesus.  In learning the discipline of forgiveness, he's tasting freedom and sweet humility.  He's found a local church who loves him and teaches him how to love back.  He really enjoys what he's studying and the work of global business. I asked him how he was faring with the turn in the economy.

  "Oh, it's bad out there. I see 50 of my classmates lining up for whatever job they can get.  But I think I'm learning from God something about this too."

  "What's that?" I said.

  "Anna, I'm free." He beamed again. "You know, I only went into banking because it's the most prestigious MBA out there.  You have to be the smartest and the sharpest out there.  But now with the sub-prime morgage crisis, there are no banking jobs.  I'm free to do what I've always wanted.  And I get to figure out what that is!"  He looked sincerely happy.  He says that he's free to choose not based on status, wealth, or what he's produced for his identity, but rather what God has intended for him.  And John seems really at peace that this unknown will be a tremendous thing. 

  Funny how the dying of a global economy can bring God's freedom to people.  John said, "the sad part is that when the economy bounces back as it invariably will, the cycle will start all over again and some people will have learned nothing about their greed that controls them."  But perhaps some of us will.  I am hopeful.

   

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