Wealth Management

In light of the results reported from Wall Street over the last month, many forms of wealth management have somehow been severely misstated. What instead has arisen is an ugly array of mass miscalculations and overtly exuberant hedging of bets “as in the gambler’s venue” that faltered badly. Investment houses, the nation’s largest banks, corporate mortgage lenders, hedge fund providers, and insurance institutions…all have been affected adversely by the revelations of misinformation, fraudulent lending practices, and a disregard for oversight, verification, and a lack of restraint in leveraged buying practices. In other words…we built an economy that could not be sustained by the foundation of honest labor for honest work. Dishonestly allowed an economy of deceit to be perpetuated by willing victims and unknowing pawns…alike. What has been so strange is the incapacity of normalcy to be reestablished because distrust has risen to such an exacerbating level. Where deceit is revealed to be the order of the day…no one trusts.
We should not be so surprised. As a nation and engaged in an interrelated world economic system…we reap what we sow. Disregarding the poor, the powerless, the weak and taking advantage of the uneducated, the impressionable, and the corruptible, has led down a road yielding the dissatisfying returns of pain and corruption and loss. From the pages of the prophet Amos to the sound wisdom of the Book of Proverbs, we have missed the mark. Justice will roll down and destroy the injustice of such times…and with clearly earthshaking outcomes. Loving God and loving neighbor suddenly become more important in light of fortunes lost and false securities erased. Those who pursue “Securities” as an answer to their life’s great need are just falsely pre-empting where and with whom we find true security. Perhaps with less money, there will be more time for the really important things. Faith, family, truth, justice, love…if we go there…it looks like there might be hope for a truly promising future.

Something Beautiful, Something Good

It is always fascinating to consider the variety of perspectives shared by those who constitute a local congregation of Christians. There are usually a considerable diversity of ages and age-related milestones occurring in the lives of those people. And each person uniquely brings an ever changing variety of life experiences to share from and to offer in relationship. The beauty of this complexity is the unity shared in Christ. It is Christ who brings us together, who unites our hearts, who provides for our best understanding of God’s will and way. It is Christ who has joined with us in our humanity to lead us to our divinely inspired calling as children of God. In Christ we discover our best selves, our best opportunities, and our best gifts to share. I am so very thankful for the church, because it reminds me that in the midst of my own weakness and imperfections there is a Savior who brings me to share in a community of hope a way of promise and joy that allows life to be lived in expectation and celebration. That is a gift I can never repay, but for which I will always be joyously receptive. It is the love of God. That love is what sustains the church. That love is what sustains each of those who share the experience of grace through faith in Jesus.

Bank Robbery?

I heard there was a bank robbery last week at the now defunct Washington Mutual. Only this time there was no bandit, it was a real “inside” job. It seems the new chief executive officer of the beleaguered institution saw fit to sign on to his new job three weeks ago with a $7.5 million signing bonus and a guaranteed $11.6 million cash severance package. There aren’t too many people who can get that much out of a failed bank for three weeks work. Alan Fishman received $19 million dollars in “legal” compensation from a failing banking institution now taken over by the government.
My question is, how can such a “theft” occur in the first place? Is corporate greed so profoundly out of step with the rest of the world that such nonsense can be regarded as business as usual? I will give Fishman his due. In his three weeks as CEO, WaMu did launch an aggressive and no doubt expensive television ad campaign aimed at attracting new accounts. Too bad the cost of those ads didn’t come out of Mr. Fishman’s own pocket. Instead they will likely be indirectly paid for by taxpayers who ultimately provide the “guarantees for depositor’s funds” to such institutions.
There is a passage in Proverbs that reads, “The faithful will abound in blessings, but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.” Perhaps many should consider those thoughts good advice for such times as ours.