Crisis of Faith!

"I wrote the book for crying out loud!"  "I've been quoting and living by this stuff for 7 years now!"  I found myself drowning in a flood of emotion and my mind was running wild.  I had just reviewed the fee schedules posted on Medicaid and Medicare's websites and realized that there was a 30% pay cut for all of us healthcare providers.  This was right after one of my daughters told me that almost 100% of her promotion was negated by a tax increase.  And if that wasn't enough the AOL welcome screen's leading story was that Congress received a pay increase! 

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper!  I had good reason to be angry and so does the rest of America.  The prior week I had listened to all the political hullabaloo about how we were going to strengthen our healthcare, how tax increases would only effect those making $250,000 a year or more, and then find out that in spite of the so-called avoidance of the fiscal cliff on December 31st, none of it seemed to be true.

For the better part of a week my mind and emotions got the best of me.  But what could I do?  This was completely out of my control.  Over 95% of my psychology practice is Medicaid/Medicare and now it was evaporating faster than I could say "the mortgage is due".  I found myself agitated, depressed, and most of all, fearful.  Fear is not an emotion I tolerate well and often forces me into quick, impulsive and sometimes, irrational decisions.  I don't think that I am alone in my reaction to fear.  I've seen people do some pretty ill-advised things in an effort to bring their fear and anxiety under control.

After several days the fear and anxiety began to take its toll on me.  I could feel it in every part of my body and I wasn't sleeping well.  The question of the day in my house was "Dad, are you stressed?"  Obviously my attempts to conceal my concerns were failing and the question alone brought out my inner agitation and irritability with life.

Then one day this week I'm driving to work, feeling all the weight of the situation, and trying to have some semblance of a prayer.  Thoughts raced through my mind like a runaway freight train.  Conversations with colleagues only served to elevate my anxiety and frustration further.  Think about it.  Loosing almost a third of your income overnight and at the same time having a tax increase.  Shouldn't one's fear be aroused?

In the natural, the answer is yes.  But then, I wrote the book about this stuff.  I said we live in different economy.  And all of sudden I'm not fighting the system any longer, I'm having a full blown crisis.  It was a Crisis of Faith!  Do I believe in Washington's ability to fix things thereby making me feel better or do I believe in a benevolent God who will take care of me and my family regardless of circumstances thereby having a peace that transcends all understanding?
In that moment I asked myself a simple question:  why do I want to let Washington politics, Medicaid/Medicare or any other earthly agent determine what kind of day I will have?  I mean, why would I want to sell my mood to a system that is about as stable as running water?  I was reminded of Pillar 1 and that it is “God who gives me the ability to generate wealth”.  I remembered that the chapter title alone"Our Source”, challenges us to look beyond governmental provision and towards a loving God who has a better idea.  I had to make a choice: who is my source?  My crisis of faith had to be resolved.  I found myself apologizing to God for stability in unstable things and reaffirming my faith in His goodness and care for me.  Before too much longer a peace flooded my soul and fear was now replaced with confidence.  It was the first time in weeks that I had been able to relax and laugh.

When people ask me what 12 Pillars and a Prayer is about, I usually give a short answer that its about money.  But that's the short answer.  The longer answer is that it is a book about thinking about money.  It is a set of principles that form a foundation to living above all the madness that the current economic climate imposes on us.  Pillar 1 reminds us that there is another economic system operating.  It is one defined by a higher purpose and principle.  One that begins with a different source and if we'll begin with placing our faith in that source, we'll be ruled by peace and confidence rather than fear and uncertainty.  As a psychologist I can say with complete conviction that its difficult, if not impossible, to make quality decisions out of mental processes ruled by fear and uncertainty.  When God told Joshua that it was time to go into the promised land he had to say 6 times "fear not".  It was His way reminding Joshua of his source.  He is still reminding us today, the question is, will we believe?  Until we talk again...walk in freedom!

Our Fiscal Cliff: Its Crunch Time!

Since the November presidential elections there has been much in the news about the “fiscal cliff” that this country is facing.  In a nutshell, the so-called fiscal cliff refers to set of laws and regulations that were enacted during the early Bush administration years that are set to expire on December 31, 2012.  Basically, two things are set to happen automatically if Congress cannot agree on a new path:  first, there will be an across-the-board increase of taxes.  Second, there will be automatic cuts to government entitlement programs with defense spending and Medicare being identified most often as the target of a large portion of those cuts.

The Consequences.  The tax increases speak for its self.  If there is no action taken, there will be an increase in the amount of income taxes that you and I pay annually.  It appears imminent, one way or another, that this is going to happen.  Government has overspent its budget consistently over the past decade and at warp speed the past 4-5 years.  Somebody has to pay.  It is like a family that makes $50,000 per year who has been spending $110,000 per year over the past 10 years.  Where do you think that family would be?  It doesn’t take a Harvard economist to figure it out:  IN DEBT!  Lots of it!  And that is where the country is today.

A second consequence of the tax increases has to do with the overall economy.  If people paying more taxes to the government it means they are spending less at Walmart, Costco and every other retail/wholesale business that is patronized by John Q American.  Think about it.  Say, for example, you bring home $2000 a month.  Let’s say that you’ve been paying $400 of that money in taxes.  If taxes are increased you may now be paying, say $550 in taxes.  You still got paid the same but now $150 went to Uncle Sam.  Somebody didn’t get paid this month!  Maybe it was your mortgage, maybe it was the light bill, or maybe you’re eating less.  But the point is that money did not end up in American commerce and now the economy is weakened.  Experts fear that it may send the country back into recession and everything that goes along with it, e.g., job losses, higher unemployment, a flock to more government entitlement programs, etc.  Not good!

Speaking of unemployment, the second part of the equation is cutbacks of government jobs.  More people are going to be out of work if things are left alone.  And even worse, these cuts stand to weaken our national defense and affect those citizens who have been the major payers into this system for decades:  seniors! That’s right.  Medicare is one of the entitlement programs set to absorb its fair share of the cuts.  The ironic thing is that it is these very people, the senior citizens, who have paid into the system for 50 years!

The Upside.  If there is something positive to the fiscal cliff dilemma (assuming that Congress cannot agree on a course of action and time expires) it is that it forces the inevitable.  At some point tough choices are going to have to be made which means cutting spending and possibly increasing revenue (taxes).  Think about it.  If you are not able to pay your bills each month, what are you going to do?  Aren’t you going to look for ways to spend less and maybe take on additional work (increase revenues)?  And more importantly, isn’t that going to be a little uncomfortable to have to make those decisions? 

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• Turn off cable!?  Are you kidding me?!  
• I’m already tired and you want me to work another 10 hours per week
•  There goes the Christmas budget this year!
• Stay home for vacation?!
•  …and it goes on and on and on...

The truth is that this country, as well as, you and I are not going to deal with our debt problems without having to make some very difficult decisions.  That requires commitment.  Commitment to a guiding philosophy and overall thought process that is intolerant of debt.

Why are we surprised?  As the past 5-6 years have unfolded, I have been amazed at the thought process found in our nation’s leadership.  It has transcended political parties and has become a cancer to our country’s livelihood, well-being and integrity.  We have seen our credit ratings drop (a measure of how well you’re doing managing your money) and the loss of credibility across the globe.

I also find it hard to throw stones at our politicians.  They reflect what we, the American people, are thinking and the truth is that we’ve been thinking “buy now, pay later” for a long, long time.  Individually, most Americans are not much different than the country as a whole:  run up the credit cards and debt until we’ve ruined our credit, our reputations, and are held captive by our financial limitations brought about by debt.  Everything, and I mean everything, is subject to financial bondage. 

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• You don’t want to answer the phone during dinner time because you know it’s a creditor calling for their money,

•  you lose sleep because you’re not sure how you’re going to pay the mortgage this month,

•  Junior needs a new pair of shoes and

• you’re skipping this year’s family reunion because you haven’t paid Uncle Bob back that $2500 you borrowed last year! 

Now here’s the really surprising part…we knew better!  Yes, we were warned!  Didn’t Paul say to “owe no man nothing but to love him” (Romans 13:8)?  Did Proverbs 22:7 not warn us that “the borrower is slave to the lender”?  In Pillar 2 (see 12 Pillars & a Prayer), Deuteronomy 28, did Moses not tell the Hebrew nation that they would “borrow from no one, but lend to many nations”?  It is hypocritical for us to bash Washington when we are likewise guilty.  While we do not let our politicians off the hook for their insatiable desires to spend money that they do not have, at an individual level, we must hold ourselves accountable for our financial appetites and habits.  Let the record show we were given a blueprint for this thing.  Once again, we must acknowledge that God knew better than us.  The 12 Pillars & a Prayer are not just a cutesy little title for a book; they form a solid foundation for living life in abundance and getting our financial house in order.

In that sense, we are all at our own personal financial cliff.  What will it be?  Will we make the right decisions that will break the bonds of financial oppression?  It all starts with one quality decision:  will I do it my way or yield to One whose wisdom is far beyond mine?  He says, “think debt free!”…will we listen?

Until we talk again, sorry for being a little long winded today…

Dr. Russ