When will this cursed economy ever recover? I certainly have my views on the economic and political causes of this prolonged recession, which has been the worst since the Great Depression. But whatever the causes, the effects of this economy have been devastating. 

• There has been prolonged joblessness and extended unemployment. This inability of even highly qualified people to get a job is incredibly depressing. And some companies have even advertised that the unemployed need not apply. Which makes someone who does not have a job even more depressed, because it appears to be a never ending cycle.
• Home values and stock market plunges and gyrations have destroyed personal wealth. For years, home prices only went up, and this bolstered consumer confidence, leading to increased spending. The sub-prime mortgage scandal has brought down homes prices dramatically for the first time in decades. Not only has this destroyed personal wealth and people's "piggy banks," it has led to over 1/4 of home owners being upside down in their mortgage. That is, they owe more than their house is worth. This is depressing in and of itself, and it has also caused people to be unable to move or change their situation.
• 75% of college graduates the last two years have been unable to find jobs. And many of these college graduates owe $50,000 or more in school debt. Talk about crushed expectations. A college degree was supposed to be the ticket to a well-paying job. But for many, it has only led them to moving back in with mom and dad--only this time, they have a huge debt and no hope for the future.
• All of this is leading to a dramatic rise in depression and suicide. The economic situation is bad enough to create depression. But for many, this economic situation has been the pressure that has brought out and exacerbated other problems in people's lives. Marriages that were strained have gotten dramatically worse. Debt that was out of control is now crushing. Worriers have had anxiety reach crippling levels. And yes, suicide is rising.
  
  On a personal level, I can tell you that I have had five people in the last couple of months who have talked with me about their having suicidal thoughts. I am very concerned, and am doing everything that I can to help them and get them the help that they need. I have talked with some counselors, and they confirm this rising problem in those that they are seeing. Historically, there has been a link between suicide and economic downturns, a link that was most notable during the Great Depression. Studies are coming out that also give evidence for this happening today, with reports that suicide rates have risen in Europe, including Greece, and the US, during the economic crisis:
  
  "Sidney Zisook, a psychiatrist at UC San Diego and the VA Medical Center, says, "A job loss can be an enormous stressor, and may be one of those events that may tip the balance in somebody who otherwise has other suicide risk factors," Zisook pointed out.

My heart goes out to all of those who have lost jobs--but to our entire nation as well. Even those who have jobs worry about losing their job. There is so much stress in people's lives. It is affecting marriages. It is affecting churches--particularly churches that, like individuals or families, already have had major stresses. Like in these individuals and families, this economic downturn is pushing many churches to a tipping point, making existing problems worse. When we are under stress, we often are less patient, less kind, less forgiving, more fearful, and less trusting of God.

This kind of economic stress would be difficult for any people in any time. Jesus talked in the Sermon on the Mount about not worrying about food and clothing. But perhaps this stress is most especially difficult for the US because material things are so core to our American identity. After all, the American dream is not about a life of dependency on God, but about a bigger and better house, the right education, the right job, early retirement, and a vacation home.

If we want to be both pastoral and missional, we need to share a message with the world and with our own people that our purpose and identity come through Jesus Christ--not the things of this world--and that whatever happens, God will help us through the storms of life.

Jesus says this: 

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

How have you seen that the economic recession has affected individuals, families, and churches? How can we help our people and the world through these difficult times?