“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
These are the words of a very wise man spoken thousands of years ago. I wonder if he knew then that in this century the world would be facing the massive financial crisis that we find ourselves in. At the time of this writing Dow Jones ratings look like readings of the Richter scale after a California earthquake. We don’t know from one minute to the next where the Dow will end up.
And it’s not just Americans who are shaking in their boots as they watch their investments tank. This is a worldwide financial crisis. America’s bond rating went from perfect to AA+. What does that mean, exactly?
According to investorwords.com a bond rating is: “A measure of the quality and safety of a bond, based on the issuer's financial condition. More specifically, an evaluation from a rating service indicating the likelihood that a debt issuer will be able to meet scheduled interest and principal repayments. Typically, AAA is highest, and D is lowest.” It’s kind of like our personal credit score but deals with trillions of more dollars.
My father-in-law, who would be 111 this month if he were still with us, lost $3,000 in the stock market crash of 1929. Three thousand dollars! That’s not much by today’s standards. But in 1929 that could equal the amount of a life’s savings. He never trusted banking institutions again. He created his own system. He kept his money in an envelope in the Yellow Pages under “M” for money. He didn’t earn any interest with that system, but he was sure to retain his original investment.
The guy who told his followers not to store up treasures on earth also had other important instructions for them. “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” If he were talking directly to us today in the language of today he might put it this way, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
He also said, “Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Sometimes our financial worries are the heaviest burdens that we labor over. He also said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
When a yoke is put upon two oxen they are sharing the burden of the load they carry. A more experienced ox will lead and train a younger one as they share the burden. Jesus is telling his disciples to allow him to teach them his ways. Here he is asking his followers to allow him to teach them how to handle the worries of the day. When we allow Jesus to shoulder our worries, financial or otherwise, somehow our burdens became lighter.
Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com
