Article August 11, 2008 Issue

SECURITY AMID THE BANKING CRISIS

CHANNING WALKER

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

HE WASN'T ANTICIPATING all the rattled nerves that today's banking crisis has triggered. He'd never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac—the twin rival corporations so important to the stability of the banking industry and so vulnerable to ongoing troubles in the US housing market. But the author of the book of Job in the Bible offers real comfort. In the briefest of passages the book gives this far-reaching assurance: "Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope" (Job 11:18).

Rather than speeding right past that, or dismissing it as quaint idealism, it's worth a few moments of consideration. The Bible is as plain as it could be both on the promise and on the rock-solid fact underpinning that promise. The promise? You shall be secure. The underpinning to that promise? There is hope. The spiritual reasoning here goes deep. A superficial reading—an assessment only of physical data, balance sheets, expectations of the stock market, and the mood of the banking industry—simply isn't comprehensive enough and might wrongly dismiss the power of God-derived hope.

But look deeper. There are profound spiritual facts that need to be reckoned with. Take those facts into account, and the prognosis grows brighter. There is hope because there is a heavenly Father who cares for you. There is hope because this heavenly Father is also the divine Principle of the universe and maintains order throughout this universe. There is hope because the Father's care is tangible and practical and keeps His creation in perfect balance—without excess and definitely without deficiency. There is hope because there is the certainty of good that His presence and power bring to our lives. There is hope because this Principle governs everything there is to govern, down to the smallest details. There is hope because this Principle, God, provides us with His Science, His law. And His Science maintains the productivity of even the largest aspects of creation.

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