May 2009

From Your (Guest) Minister Confusing, isn’t it? Our minister returned from sabbatical back in January, but because we prepare Quest many months in advance, you will still see remnants of the sabbatical in May! And so we welcome Peter Morales, senior minister of the Jefferson Unitarian Church of Golden, Colorado, and candidate for UUA president, as our “guest minister.”

The Economic Crisis

Only a few of us have any personal memories of the Great Depression. I can recall hearing stories that my parents would tell—stories about the family going off to pick cotton or making a little money shelling pecans. This is the worst economic downturn since that Great Depression.

I am pretty sure my home is worth less than I paid for it. I know that people have lost jobs and many others fear losing theirs. These are anxious and uncertain times.

What are we to make of all this? I want to explore the deeper meaning—the religious aspect—of what we are experiencing. Life’s crises can be great teachers if we are open to their lessons and if they shock us into greater awareness. They are also a time to take stock of how we are living.

To take stock, we need to start by understanding how we got into this mess and what our role is in the future. But if we only explore questions of fiscal policy we will miss the essential issue. And if we miss the essence of this crisis, we will never create a world where this kind of mess does not recur.

In a very real sense, we are in a moral and spiritual crisis, witnessing the inevitable results of a moral failure that goes to the core of our culture.

Make no mistake, this crisis is the result of malfeasance and misfeasance by the economic and political elite. This is not a natural disaster. It is entirely selfinflicted. But it goes deeper, much, much deeper, than that.

What makes the madness of wild, irresponsible financial speculation possible? First, it takes a complete abdication of responsibility by the people charged with overseeing the system. But let’s go further. Let’s look at what creates the climate in which this financial crisis can occur in the first place. We are a culture that makes heroes of people who make outrageous sums of money. We are taught a kind of acquisitive individualism that desensitizes us to the cost of such wealth. So we get government run by ideologues who elevate the market to a kind of idolatry. We get tax policies that favor the richest among us. And the reason this has not mattered is not a question of economics. It is a question of morals, a question of our values. Ultimately it is a spiritual and a religious question.

We will tolerate a world of extreme wealth and of extreme poverty only if we have abandoned the ideal of the common good. This vision is as old as the Hebrew prophets protesting the exploitation of the poor in ancient Israel.

Our economic crisis is the result, the inevitable result, of a moral and spiritual failure. When we lose sight of the fact that we are all connected, when we lose a sense of common good, when we no longer feel the suffering of others— that is when we create a society of wanton excess, of conspicuous consumption, of environmental destruction, of gross injustice.

We need a religious vision of the common good, a vision grounded in a respect for human dignity, founded on the realization that we are all connected and all interdependent.

The vision of all the great religions is very much the same. It is a vision of a compassionate society where everyone is valued and where everyone is cared for. It is a vision of a common good. How about these for guiding principles: Everyone matters. We are responsible for one another. Compassion should guide us. No one should be exploited. It is good religion. It is good politics. It is good economics.

Our first task is to get in touch with what truly matters in our lives. We need to reach out to one another and support one another.

But that is just the start. We must not stop there.

This is a wake-up call. In the US and in much of the world, we have worshipped a false god of consumerism.

And this crisis is the result.

Our second task is to take care of one another. We need to focus on what truly matters in our lives.

Our next task is to create a world in which this kind of madness cannot occur. We can create a different world. We can create a world that is just and responsible and sustainable.

Let’s join hands and get through this together. Then let’s join hands and work to create a world where our economic system is an expression of our most deeply held values.

This crisis is an opportunity to come to our senses. It is an opportunity to help one another. And, most importantly, this crisis is a chance to create something new and wonderful.

Let us seize the moment.