Another Friend Laid Off

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)

Almost every morning while I drive to work, National Public Radio reports certain indicators pointing to a movement toward economic recovery. Many people have bought cars by using cash for clunkers. Many others have bought existing homes by tapping into first-time homeowner incentives. These indicators seem more like crutches that support us in our habit of buying and consuming rather than markers of renewed stability.

A statistic that seems more real to me is the national unemployment rate. It was 9.4% for July 2009 was, compared to the previous year’s 5.8% (Bureau of Labor and Statistics). I know there has to be a connection between the habit of buying and consuming that I bemoan and the unemployment rate. I’ll let economists sort that out. The reason why the unemployment number looms larger in my mind is because it is a number that has affected friends and coworkers. It’s a percentage that continues to weigh upon my thoughts and is probably one of the reason my stomach keeps churning.

For several months now, I have struggled with the whole idea of work. There’s work, there’s vocation, there’s “calling” (the work God gifts each of us to do). What happens when an economy says, “Um…no, there’s really no demand for that now. You’ll have to find something else to do. Good luck!”?

I couldn’t find very much in Scripture that talked about work. It seems to me that anything that varied very far from the basic tending of the Garden brought about trouble. I do remember Jesus saying something about how we cannot serve both God and money, and I know that he taught about money as a topic second only to the kingdom of God.

I ramble. I’ll go ahead and post this, though, because I want my unemployed friends to know that I pray with them daily. I pray for our peace of mind, for our needs to be met, and for satifying, fulfilling employment. And I pray that we can move away from fear and toward gratitude, remembering who and whose we are.

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