As I write this, I am trying to resist the urge to feel pitiful and helpless.
Lack of knowledge about economics and the like contributes to my frustration with the way things are right now. Oil prices shot up $11 per barrel in one day — ONE DAY! I will not pretend that I understand the ramifications; I just know how all this is affecting my world thus far: I am fully aware that rising oil prices equals higher fuel costs, which equals rising food costs, which equals rising everything costs, which equals….it just doesn’s seem to stop!
I’m simply not a “bigger picture” person when it comes to these things. I vaguely remember the oil/gas crisis of the late ’70s but I don’t know whether it is the same thing as what we are experiencing now. All I see is the “now” — and right now, I just want to be able to buy staples at the store without making it impossible to pay my bills and get to church.
I wanted to buy cooking oil today; it was $4.00 for a 48-ounce bottle of store-brand vegetable oil….and that was the sale price! Is the $2.00 bottle of cooking oil gone forever? A dozen eggs is $3.29 on sale; the same dozen eggs was $1.90 less than six months ago.
These questions I ask, well, I don’t necessarily want to hear the educated answers. A part of me wants to believe that this will work itself out in time, but the cynic in me thinks we as a nation may never recover and that the economic cycle is nearing a catasrophic end for the common man/woman.
I marvel that the Oprahs (buying a fourth multi-million dollar home) and the Pitts (building a luxury hotel in Dubai) of this country don’t have one financial worry while others who were once middle class are forced to choose between buying food and paying for electricity.
So, like that modern-day parable about boiling water’s effect on an egg, a carrot, or coffee, I feel some days like the carrot and other days like the egg, both affected by the adversity of the boiling pot of water without contributing to the quality of the water. I rarely feel like the coffee that uses the boiling water to its advantage — combines with it, even — to make something new.
And then I remember my Savior’s love, how His staying on that Cross changed the effect that physical death could have on me, on all humankind.
How can I use this time in history to be a catalyst for hope?
How can I become a contagion of hope to those around me despite the hopelessness of our country’s weakening economy, despite my own feelings of despair and helplessness, despite the reality of where we are right now?
There is only one way. I must keep my eyes lifted toward the hills, from where my help comes. My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.
If I had not Him — my Lord and My God, Jesus Christ — I would have nothing. He is my reason for living. Whom, or what, shall I fear? Should I fear whomever controls the oil prices that drive up the cost of all else? No!
NO!
Absolutely not.
Our God reigns. HALLELUJAH!!!
If I choose His help, I can be like the coffee bean that changes — indeed, improves — with the adversity of a pot of boiling water.
Yes…I choose that. Do you?
© Alexa Lopez 2008
