Do No Harm... and the Economy

Anyone with connection to a news source these days hears grim news about the state of the U.S. economy and its impact on the global economy. I heard a statistic last night that right now every American owes China $6,000 due to the amount of money we (the United States) has had to borrow to pay our bills. With the mortgage crisis, unemployment on the rise, and continuous news about banks and other business institutions on the verge of collapse... there are reasons we are not sleeping as well at night.

I also heard another provocative statement yesterday related to this that caught my attention-- U.S. Banking executives have done more damage to the Western World with their greed and poor management tactics than terrorists have done. Whoa!?! That's a bold statement to make! But one that causes us to pause and think and pray about how this connects to our rule for the week, "do no harm." Decisions we make often times impact more than just us. For persons in positions of leadership, power and influence, those decisions can impact A LOT of people. Whether conscious of it or not, the heads of banks have done a lot of harm to many. They got richer, enjoyed the best and most luxurious, and took risks they knew might fail. The result? People are losing their dreams and homes, their jobs and retirement savings, and the national debt keeps on rising.

Is there hope? That's the blessing of faith and the power of resurrection-- there is hope. Out of brokenness, wholeness emerges. Out of death comes new life. Out of the ashes, the phoenix rises. So too will our economy. We will have to live with the hurt of the decisions of others until the proper healing can come about. To do no harm is a challenge to think and pray about how our words and actions might impact others-- and be prepared to live with the consequences. To do no harm is to also seek ways to heal, transform and help those who have been harmed to find wholeness.

DO NO HARM.