Two weeks ago Friday, the stock market took a historic plunge. Most of us were concerned, and some of us were panicked. These have been unsettling times. A lot of things that we take for granted as being permanent, stable and secure have proven not to be. For most of my career I’ve been kowtowing to giant, seemingly powerful investment banks for which failure seemed impossible, and now they’re gone. I know a lot of people who have no idea which company name will appear on their next paycheck, or if they’ll get a paycheck at all. If I were to pick an apex of the fear, the moment at which many fears crystallized, it would have been at market close on Friday, October 10, 2008, when the market suffered its worst single day loss in history.
That evening several of the fathers in the neighborhood gathered with our sons to walk over to the local high school football game. We were all a bit stunned by the day’s events, and concerned for the future. We talked about the economy, market instability and speculated on the possibility of a complete failure of our social structures. Then a funny thing happened – a great football game.
The home team Walton Raiders came into the game ranked among Georgia’s top 10 football programs, and were hosting cross-town rival Milton. Walton struggled early and was down 20-3 late in the third quarter. They scored a TD on the last play of the quarter to make it 20-10, then in the third quarter a phenomenal fade to the corner of the end zone brought them within a field goal. Walton scored another TD and held on for the win. For a solid three quarters of play, none of us cared a whit about the stock market.
The next day, I woke up with my family, watched more football, played in the yard and enjoyed a typical suburban Saturday. People were eating out, shopping and enjoying life. The most stressful thing that happened that day was my son’s barely making a tough save in his soccer game. Toria jumped out of her chair as the ball appeared to be going over Jack’s head and she dumped a pumpkin spice latte all over her new shirt. It was a stark contrast with the picture painted by the fear mongers who had been declaring the downfall of society just a day before. The stunning contrast between the chaotic news of the week and my bucolic weekend left me wondering which vision was real.
Two weeks later, life is still good even though the news gets worse.
What is real? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). I do not serve an earthly kingdom, and my ultimate hope is not in the things of this world. I battle fear at times, but I know what is true, and what will persevere. I can choose to fear, or I can choose to live boldly, proclaiming the truth of the one who gives hope to the hopeless. I choose the truth. I choose what is real.
