Article November 11, 1991 Issue

An economy on the rocks, or on the Rock?

In times of economic uncertainty—and always—genuine security rests on a spiritual foundation.

Russ Gerber

It's raining!" a family member announced. In our very parched region, following a four-year drought, this was cause for celebration. Ironically, I had just seen many faces of despair in a newscast about a small, rain-drenched town struggling with serious flooding. (How I wished they could send some of that unwanted water our way!)

These contrasting images—too much and too little, haves and have-nots—confront us today at an unprecedented rate. We see fully stocked grocery stores and half-starved nations. Families struggling to make modest ends meet while friends or neighbors bask in prosperity.

When we try to help bring an end to the economic disparity in human lives, our attention often turns to bold initiatives, new fiscal policy, or restructuring. While these approaches may prove helpful, the fact remains that any economy—global or personal—will always be unstable to some degree, and often unfair, if it is based on limited resources and subject to partiality, corruption, greed, upswings, or downturns.

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