Finding God in the Wilderness

I've been taking my daughter on college visits recently, and today we visited a nearby campus and heard a lecture by an economics professor. I was intrigued by the title, which had to do with understanding the recession. After a one-hour lecture, accompanied by charts, graphs and lots of power power slides, my daughter was asleep and I felt lost in the wilderness.

You see, at the end of his lecture, the professor said, "I don't have any good news about this."

He explained that federal monetary policy could not leverage a recovery any more than it already has. He explained that interest rates for savers are low (though we are saving more money than we did before) and interest rates for borrowers are high; meaning there is no incentive to either save or borrow. The housing market remains depressed and workers can't move to find new jobs. There is a mismatch between skills available in the labor market and skills that are needed by potential employers (too many construction workers, not enough health care workers).

The professor explained the economic stimulus package passed in 2009 was the one thing that seemed to increase employment, but its effect was only temporary. Now, the political winds have changed in the direction of spending cuts, meaning that any future stimulus spending proposals don't have a chance. His message was: Get used to it. High unemployment will be around for awhile.

Wow, I thought. I couldn't get away with that giving kind of hopeless message in the church.

Nor would I want to.

During this Lenten season, we have been walking through the wilderness, exploring the challenges of our lives through the words of the Psalms. We have not been shy about admitting that temptations and dark valleys lie before us.

But, unlike that economics professor, we have faith that God is with us. We trust that Christ walks beside us. We experience the power of the Holy Spirit, lifting us up when we need inspiration.

The church does not give up. Instead of saying, "We'll never be able to feed everyone who comes to the food pantry," we begin to explore how we can provide more jobs, affordable housing and mentoring for pantry clients. We begin to develop relationships with our legislators, so that we can advocate for justice.

Instead of bemoaning the religious conflicts in our world, we commit to A Year with Islam in our adult education ministry. We engage in regular visits and share meals with Muslim neighbors from the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park.

Instead of saying, "The problems of four million people who have been displaced in Colombia are beyond our help," we set up an exhibit about the Colombian people in our sanctuary and are signing letters and postcards to demand a new U.S. policy toward Latin America.

And so we are not left without hope. We can find God at work -- even in the wilderness -- even in the recession -- even in the conflicts and pain of the world. Because on Palm Sunday, God's love comes to town. And that changes everything.