I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day about the financial situation of our children and grandchildren. Today many families need two jobs just to survive. She described how thankful she was that she was raising her children when it was possible to be a stay-at-home mom. The reality of the problem hit home as I was reading an article in Chronicles by Ryan Neuhaus, America's Affordability Crisis. It's sad and sobering:
We have built a country in which a young person can do well in school, take on debt to get a degree, work full-time, delay gratification, even postpone marriage, and still fail to secure a middle-class life. That kind of change doesn’t just happen. It’s a reflection of how the country has been governed for decades, and the truth beneath all the charts and numbers being thrown around today is that the affordability crisis is a governing crisis: a failure to use power to deliver outcomes that make ordinary life better.
Our country isn’t just dealing with mere financial problems; the way it is governed is becoming unaffordable. And because Republicans claim to be the party of order, family, and competent government, the failure to deliver outcomes lands on them with a special force....the system no longer works the way it was promised it would.
My husband and I won't be here much longer. We are unlikely to see the worst of what's coming, but we have a major stake in the future because of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And the world situation is looking grim with the prospects of another forever war looming. I read this morning that the first six days of the Iran conflict cost the American taxpayers $11.3 billion with a prospect of the daily bill being $1.5 billion. Add in the billions Somali migrants have defrauded from taxpayers in Minnesota, Maine, Ohio, etc. How long can we sustain that? And how will the financial crisis affect the midterms? I expect we will see the Democrats take over the House and Senate making the situation exponentially worse since they are the biggest tax and spenders on the planet while the Republicans bury their heads in the sand and are content to oversee America's decline.
The world well deserves the whirlwind and the U.S. is a leading contender in immorality. How many billions of babies have been killed by chemical contraception, abortion, and IVF around the world? The only real solution to all this is global repentance. But that begins with each one of us. Until we resolve to pursue holiness instead of wealth, repentance instead of self satisfaction, and truth instead of lies we can't expect God to bless us.
Lent is a good time to reflect on all these things and to resolve to be docile to God's grace. If we want to be happy we need to bend our wills to God's will. "Thy will be done," we pray in the Our Father, but do we mean it?
For the rest of Lent I want to examine my own conscience every day and beg God to show me where I fail and how to do better. I'm convinced that the journey to holiness begins with gratitude, even gratitude for what looks like misery. The Bible tells us God chastises those He loves. Obviously, He does that for our good. So instead of complaining when sorrow comes my way, which it often does, I want to thank God for letting me share in his Passion even if it's only crucifixion by thumbtack.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy. Grant us Your peace.
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