The Lord our God, the Lord is One: Love and Times of Recession

It is no secret that times are tough for a lot of people. My situation is unlike that of many people. Whereas 2008 marked severe disruption in people's careers and livelihoods, 2009 marked the beginning of my career. Thus, I have been insulated from the harsh reality that a lot of people have now experienced (and are continuing to experience). I can pay my bills, put some money away in savings, and I view significant drops in my retirement account with a certain amount of *shrug*. After all, I probably won't draw on that until after 2050. We will probably be ruled by the apes by then, and I won't need to worry about it. But I know that my experience is a limited one. For many, as exemplified by Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party, these times are ruled by bitterness and cynicism rather than hope and trust. I will admit my own cynicism contributes as well. The bitterness and cynicism has been amplified by the fact that people are busier. Being laid off or unemployed is hard work. Navigating a support system, finding new and meaningful work, handling the stress and pressure is a full-time endeavor. For those who are still working, and trying to do twice the work as before, life is becoming busier and busier. Doing what we love, frankly, is becoming a luxury. And when we give up the things we love to support the people we love, we add just a little more bitterness and resentment to the pot. Movements begin to give people a united cause- blame. Children absorb this bitterness and resentment, leading to bullying (a different form of blame) and a rise in child/teen suicides. It should shock and disgust us that children are even aware of suicide- but now it's just a headline, like all the other suffering. And we get more bitter, and we blame more. And in the middle of all of this, the clarion call echos from Scripture- love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and strength. What if our heart is broken, our soul is crushed and our strength is running out? Does God possibly want this busted offering? This would be a good place for me to turn on my "pump up" music and encourage us to follow the words of Nike and "just do it." But the reality of life is that you're told every day to "just do it." The God of the Bible doesn't seem to me to shrug off difficult circumstances and say "buck up and do it." Instead, the God of the Bible comes to us in our brokenness and our bitterness, our resentment and our resignation, and seeks to be our refuge. Sometimes, loving God with heart, soul and strength is found in service; other times, however, loving God with heart, soul and strength means collapsing into God. In all things, as it says on the door of a chapel in Stauton Harold (England), it means "to have done the best things in the worst times."