In the Spirit
Maybe you noticed a few weeks ago that many of the "Farewell to 2008" summaries included phrases like "Good riddance!" and "Glad it's over." Olympics and election aside, 2008 was a year characterized by loss — loss of jobs, homes and net worth; loss of corporate integrity; loss of public trust in financial institutions and here in our community; and loss of precious shoreline.
While the prevailing question seems to be, when will it be over? I've been pondering, what are the lessons? For so long, it seems the world's standard of success has been the size and quantity of our material possessions — cars, homes, boats, stock portfolios. Now that those acquisitions have been shown to be transient, maybe we need to remind ourselves what is of lasting value.
I don't think we have to commission a new study to find the solution. It's not a secret known by an elite few. In fact, I believe anyone who's ever been to Sunday School already knows the answers. The Bible has offered practical rules of behavior for centuries, and readers of this column will no doubt be familiar with them.
Don't lie.
Don't steal.
Don't cheat.
Be a peacemaker.
Don't envy what your neighbor has.
Treat your fellow man like you want him to treat you.
Don't accumulate earthly treasures that eventually vanish.
First seek the Divine, and you'll have everything else you need.
Furthermore, the Bible is filled with countless examples that show how following the above guidelines brings results.
Seven years of economic recession are mitigated when Joseph stockpiles supplies in Egypt.
Ruth, widowed and relocated, finds family, housing and sustenance.
Job perseveres through personal and financial ruin to become prosperous again.
Jesus restores loss of health, sanity, morality and life itself.
Some may think religious teachings merely offer comfort in times of trouble, a way to handle stress until we sort out the unpleasant aspects of our lives. But isn't it possible that these bedrock precepts, if believed and followed, might have prevented some of the problems we're now facing?
And what of the actual erosion of property that is a very real threat to our neighbors on Plum Island? It's hard to imagine losing a lifelong residence to nature, as we have recently witnessed. But I believe that even in this situation, there's a spiritual perspective to be gained. Years ago, a good friend in California lost his home to a raging fire. The house and everything in it was reduced to ashes in a matter of hours. When I saw him a few days afterward, he was upbeat — thoughtful and inspired, actually. I'll never forget his response to my condolence. He said, "Now I really understand the idea that there is no substance in matter." This was a concept we were both familiar with from the teachings of Christian Science. But for him, in that extreme circumstance, it became a practical truth he could turn to and lean on. This disaster jolted him to look at life differently. Although every one of his material possessions had been vaporized, the spiritual qualities he valued — the love of his family, the opportunity to serve others through his job — were still intact.
So, as I look back on 2008, it's not with disdain or disappointment; it's with the reassurance that the basic lessons we all have learned of valuing the "things of the spirit" more than material goods, give enduring meaning to life — right here and now.
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Norman Bleichman attends the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Newburyport.
