final days forum

Will the recession steal your creativity?

This recession is sneaky.

Not content to rob the country financially, this recession aims to nab our creativity. The gift of our ingenuity is the real prize this recession season seeks. The media reports about the lingering misery of the nation's financial loss, but the news shrouds the most lethal weapon -- the underlying lie that we can't get beyond this recession.

Chaos always attempts to trample the resilient order within human beings, that part of us that says: "Wait a minute! The last time I faced this, it actually turned out OK..." or "Whoa! Remember how I actually achieved more after I lost so much?"

When we give up, when we freeze in place because of chronic problems and overwhelming odds, chaos wins.

If you're out of work, you have time to think. If you want to quit a job you're clinging to because it keeps the lights on and that's about it, take time to think. Great minds seize the freedom to conceive dreams and visions and hopes even when their lives are constrained.  Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich  about a Soviet labor camp touched me when I read it in high school because of the gritty survival it depicted. And I'm still amazed by Paul, who wrote inspired words to his friends in Philippi while under what traditional scholarship says was captivity in Rome.

I have not faced a Soviet labor camp or house arrest, but stories like these and the recession itself have taught me this: Chaos may limit circumstances, but chaos can't capture my spirit unless I submit to it.

Because of this recession, much has been lost, but much more is to be gained. The American Express card may be gone, but because of creative thinking during this recession, you may reach the Dave Ramsey sweet spot where you resist all plastic. The house may be gone, but its loss may drive you to build a business that builds you a new one, not to mention houses for others.

What we do now, what we create when we fight worry with work, what we reinvent ourselves to be despite the financial ashes -- will determine how luminously we emerge when this sly recession passes.

Judy Howard Ellis

Photo: Russian writer and Nobel prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn looks out from a train, in Vladivostok, summer 1994, before departing on a journey across Russia. Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after nearly 20 years in exile. Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev

Obama is not the messiah, but...

So far, President Obama's ability to communicate galvanizes people, particularly the young. Many young people crave inspirational leadership because they long for a compass that directs them to reach above their circumstances instead of being swallowed by them.

Obama's power to influence this generation may be the most annoying trait for critics; this may be why the accusation of "messianic"  is pasted to him with an apocalyptic wink.

Such criticism forgets that men and women throughout the ages were gifted with voices that spoke to their generation. Sometimes those voices fueled changes that  led to massive empowerment. At other times, those voices generated despair and sowed destruction. 

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We may all be better served if we study the responses of people to Obama -- consider the crowds in Strasbourg, France today -- and learn something about the hunger for inspirational leadership. It may inform us of the core shift not only in America, but in the world. It may reveal to us our place of crossroads, a term which the city of Strasbourg has as part of its name.

Inspirational leadership in every sector of life is key. The dour news today about the unemployment rate makes me think about the economy. Banks that refuse credit lines to small businesses because they fear going under should revisit their commitment to being "community leaders." Businesses that lay off because of grim economic forecasts should return to their profit-and-loss sheets and choose not to be economic pundits, but human beings who understand they can say nothing when their epitaphs are written. Think of this tombstone message: AS CEO, I KEPT MY ENORMOUS SALARY WHILE MY FORMER WORKERS STRUGGLED TO LIVE.

The progress inspirational leadership brings advances slowly, painfully, and sometimes unseen. It makes this type of leadership problematic for some. But for me, that is what makes inspirational leadership fascinating to watch. The fruit may not blossom for long periods of time, but the words of the leader either feed anger or motivate people to recover. I prefer the power of the latter. As Proverbs says, there are words that can be "fitly spoken."

Obama is flawed like everyone else. History will record his every mistake and misstep. But perhaps something else is at work during the Obama era, if we could but grasp it. Maybe now is an opportunity to point people to the true Messiah, the greatest inspirational leader of them all.

When that inspirational leader saw a man trapped in his circumstances, it was the leader's words that motivated the man to catch a vision of what could be. That inspirational leader said: "Do you want to get well?"

The man gave his reasons why he was still sick. Certainly they were acceptable conclusions for he was plagued with a 38-year condition. But the inspirational leader was after something else, something deep within. With a forceful, healing love I can only imagine, this inspirational and transformational leader said: "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."

All of us must be inspired to look deep within -- past our frightfully limiting circumstances. All of us must decide now whether we will walk or sit.

Judy Howard Ellis

Links courtesy of msnbc.com, wikipedia.com, cnn,com, biblos.com, studylight.org

Share the mind-wealth, fight the poverty

Donations for the poor, originally uploaded by szlea.

 

Some major American ministries have long ago caught the vision about feeding the hungry. Slick advertisements depict hungry children either in the United States or abroad in an effort to tug at the emotions of potential donors.

Rarely have I seen those same ministries show the adults whose lives are whittled away by physical need. Poverty deepens in its visual impact when you witness adults struggling to feed their families and keep them sheltered. Poverty aches when you watch a grown, healthy man search for employment or try to build a small business just to feed his kids. This is the real face of poverty: The distress of an entire family.

If we are serious about combating poverty, then our approaches must rise above just shoving a few bucks in a can for a homeless person or sponsoring a child overseas but never connecting with the youngster's family. Perhaps a more effective way to crush poverty is reaching out to people with a multi-generational approach. And we shouldn't just share our money, we need to give of our mind-wealth. By mind-wealth I mean skills, resources, compassion, creativity, experience, and wisdom.

Americans are generous, but the nation's current economic pain may help some of us finally grasp why  global anti-poverty efforts must reach the whole family and include the vast resources of our collective creativity. Every day on national and local television, Americans can see how it's not just the kids who need care in America's urban, suburban, and rural areas.  Their parents, adult guardians and relatives need to be empowered. These adults need housing relief, jobs, incomes that grow instead of shrink, medical insurance that actually covers what they pay for, affordable education for their children, and access to work with their employers and local governments to improve the plight of their communities. 

If you are so blessed and so wise to have survived this financial meltdown, share your mind-wealth, don't hoard it. Do the same in conjunction with anti-poverty efforts overseas. Offer to assist the poor as they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Offer technology that has benefited your life and can benefit theirs. Be humble to set aside your social agendas and let those facing hardship develop their own. That's what I heard today when I listened to a segment on Blog ActionDay  hosted by Easton Ellsworth on BlogTalk Radio, and what I read on one of my favorite blogs, Skelliewag.org. Skellie wrote a great piece about"30 Ways to Battle Poverty with Technology." 

When I use the term mind-wealth, don't think that I worship the human mind. However, I have learned that a mind infused with God's ideas can be a compassionate instrument to accomplish great things. That's the message ministries should send when soliciting support for anti-hunger programs. Real people are hungry and dying every day. Yes. Whole families are being destroyed because of it. Yes and yes. But impoverished imagination and selfish ambition guarantee that the fierce enemy of poverty will win the war.

Judy Howard Ellis

 

A bad economy offers a second chance

Doors, originally uploaded by BinaryApe.

With free-falls on the stock market and American families shifting into financial lockdown, an incredible understanding may emerge from this economic thunderstorm.

It's not a matter of who is at fault or where we can dump our rage about greedy CEOs, predatory banks, inept politicians, and careless homeowners. The profound impact of this crisis is that it may actually swing open the doors to a second chance.

We are being awarded a "do-over" as we plunge to depths of financial problems we could have never imagined. A "reset" button has been pushed, and from the bottom we can build again. We can recover our sense of purpose and shift our cultural diet from the celebrity-weirdness galaxy. We can encourage innovation in areas such as energy, housing, and education. We can honor steadfastness of character and celebrate simplicity of living.

When we embrace a second chance, our empathy heightens because everyone experiences loss. Poverty is real and within reach instead of being viewed as an isolated problem facing "those people" who troll downtown streets or who cram their families into battered motels because they can't afford an apartment or a house.

Excessive luxuries don't matter as much when we retrench. Clarity becomes an essential nutrient for life. We reexamine purpose and summon our desire to survive. And if there is emotional health, we also manage relationships with care so as not to let them become the brunt of our fears.

As we struggle to pay food bills, battle fear as home values drop, stretch dwindling take-home pay, worry that our business can't make payroll, moan day-care costs, and mourn blasted retirement savings, we can discover newfound resilience. The financial bedlam, the turbulent valley, incredibly become huge doors of hope.

Judy Howard Ellis

Link to Hosea 2:14,15 courtesy of studylight.org

Time to practice what we believe

little house on the hillside, originally uploaded by iChaz.

All of us know what it feels like to face the day of an exam. Hopefully, we feel prepared because we've listened in class, taken careful notes, aced quizzes, and diligently studied.

When test day comes, we browse through the exam.  We say to ourselves: This look familiar. OK, I remember that. We then let out a breath. A couple things on the test seem like trick questions, muddled collections of sentences seemingly intended for our demise. We try to stay calm and complete what we know. This leaves us time to gather our thoughts about the questions that stump us.

Life is a bit like that now. Some parts of our current circumstances look familiar. Those who experienced the Great Depression or who remember the old folks talking about that era, see familiar themes in the anxiety expressed from the White House to U.S. Congress to Wall Street. But other situations look awfully unfamiliar, as if we woke up in another bed. What do we do then?

We follow what God says to believe. We pray for discernment and wait for his various responses throughout the day. It's like standing in an open field; the clouds are gathering, but we are listening for God's voice.  Remember the story of Elijah? Imagine him bowed down and waiting for the sound of rain after three years of drought.

This is not the time to agree with the devil that God will not speak, that he will abandon us, that he will not accept our repentance, and that he ignore our cries to him.  Say this, no matter how silly it may sound the next time the bill collector calls: God will. God does. God can.

Seek the strength of God. Paul wrote to Philippi that he could do all things through Christ. So can we. Our faith matters all the time, but its worth is proven during times like these.

To strengthen my own faith, I need more Word and more prayer. I also will lean on God's gift to me: the movies. I am a story-loving person and a good film helps me exercise the truth I know. Films such as The Patriot and "Gladiator" are among my favorites. I don't look at them for their historic value -- both films have been criticized for the "history" they portray. I don't recommend them to children or others who are troubled by its violence. But when I want to be reminded of stories of survival, choices, and leadership, I like looking at them for that purpose.

I'll also pull out my "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. Those films remind me to be honorable, even in dishonorable times, to remember that Mordor will fall, no matter what it looks like. 

Judy Howard Ellis

 

Great Depression and film links courtesy of Wikipedia.com; Paul and Philippi link courtesy of Studylight.org

 

Got worry? Free your mind

Nine, originally uploaded by moriza.

No joke, there is plenty to worry about: the historic upheaval on Wall Street, the gas shortage in the southeast, the devastation in Galveston and the struggles in Houston after Hurricane Ike, the financial shortfall some entities are facing (the Dallas Independent School District and the state of Colorado as cases in point), company layoffs, the rising cost of food, and the dropping costs of homes. Even Bank of America is refusing to loan McDonald's money to update their coffee machines!

People are giving less to their churches and their favorite nonprofits.  Small business owners are getting creative to drum up customers. More multi-generational families are expected to live together, and that's partly because of the worsening economy.  Things look bleak all over. The temptation is strong to retreat instead of advance, to give up instead of endure, to create our own escape routes instead of seeking God's way out.

And that's where it really gets tough. When we wait for God's plan of escape, we must kick worry out the door. We must be disciplined to wait on God to provide a way of escape. We must believe that yes, God can give us wisdom that matters to us right now.

Joseph, the biblical leader who led his people out of famine, faced demeaning captivity before he stepped into his destiny. For years God used Joseph as a business strategist, although he was a slave in an Egyptian official's home. Then Joseph was lied on by the official's wife and thrown into prison. In both places, despite Joseph's enslavement, God made his gifts bloom. When two of Pharaoh's officials were put in jail with Joseph, God used Joseph to interpret their dreams. When one of the officials was freed from prison, Joseph asked him to put in a good word for him with Pharoah. 

Wrong move.  Joseph's request revealed his frustration. Maybe he was tired of waiting on God. Maybe Joseph reasoned that God's silence must be an OK for him to generate a D-I-Y moment. Whatever Joseph's reason, it was still misguided. The freed official promptly forgot Joseph's request and God's strategist remained in jail another two full years. What would've happened if Joseph had stood still and waited for God to act on his behalf?

It's foolish to heed alternatives, options, and plans that are not delivered from heaven. Satan relishes the opportunity to draw us away from God when problems escalate as they are doing now. He wants us walking the floors at night, anxious and depressed. He wants our prayers to cease so that we will not experience God's creativity and resolve to press forward.

Jumping ahead of God to ease the pain of waiting for his help is easy. Waiting on God-- despite the whipping waves of life-- is a discipline birthed in tears. But guess what? It tickles God! Our disciplined waiting says to him that we believe he's worth waiting for.

Judy Howard Ellis

Links courtesy of dallasnews.com, denverpost.com, bloomberg.com, abcnews.com, chron.com