03 September 2013
28 Juli 2013
In Crisis, Wall Street Turns to Prayer
Financial meltdown triggers prayer
sessions citywide.
Tony Carnes | posted 9/19/2008 11:53AM
Starting
early last Sunday morning, the turmoil in New York's
financial markets triggered a spiritual response among Christian leaders
reminiscent of the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Cell phone text messages quickly
spread calls to prayer. "Barclay has pulled out of Lehman deal," one
announced. Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers was finalizing bankruptcy papers;
Merrill Lynch was clinching its deal to sell itself to Bank of America. Monday
would be devastating.
Many Wall Streeters realized that the
crisis could be earthshaking. A. J. Rice, well-respected CEO of the hedge-fund
firm Pomeroy Capital, says, "Most people think this is a
once-in-a-lifetime thing. In 1987 we had a dramatic shock, but the other shoe
didn't drop." This year, a whole lot of shoes have dropped. Wall Streeters
have lived with a constant sense of foreboding.
First there was the January sub-prime
market crash and its ongoing problems; then the collapses of Bear Stearns and,
most recently, Lehman Brothers; and now Merrill Lynch's loss of independence.
More than 350 banks are on a watch list circulating on the street. "I was
surprised and unsettled when Bear Stearns went under," says Rice. "I
worked for them at one time. I knew we were in untested waters."
How Christians respond to the crisis
will be a test of their wisdom, courage, integrity, and compassion for the
mighty as well as for the humble. One executive told CT, "Our response
will answer the question, 'Who is Jesus on Wall Street?' "
Bishop Roderick Caesar of New York City's Bethel Gospel Tabernacle, which has a number of members from
Wall Street, says that the crisis is so fundamental to our world that "the
church has to be poised for the moment and be prepared to work together."
Last Sunday night many Wall Streeters
could not get to sleep. After midnight, an executive at one of Wall Street's
leading investment banks, who requested that his name and his company's not be
used, lay in bed watching CNBC report that his competitors were going by the
wayside. "I was surprised how quickly it had come. By 8 P.M. we knew how Monday would open. I prayed, very selfishly, that my
company would not be on the list." He worried "about my family, the
economic environment, my church, and community."
His wife rolled over and asked,
"Are you really worried?"
"No," he told her. "I
am just interested in the news. I work for a really good company."
She asked again, "Are you
stressed?"
He weighed what was important to them
and answered, "Even if the worst happens, we will still be together as a
family and have Christ who loves and cares for us." Reassured, his wife
turned back over; 30 minutes later her husband turned off the television. He
needed to be at work very early the next morning.
On Monday, Christians on Wall Street
set up special prayer meetings for the week. First came the special prayer
conference calls on Monday and Tuesday nights. Then, starting Wednesday,
extraordinary prayer meetings were scheduled at Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs,
JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deloitte, and elsewhere. Pastors
began planning to gather for a sidewalk prayer meeting outside of the stock
exchange.
Mac Pier of the New York Leadership Center started
getting calls from friends who were losing their jobs. "Of course, I
prayed with them that God would give them the spiritual and financial resources
they need." Pier says that the Wall Streeters who called him were stunned.
"It was unnerving to them because of the speed [at which] it
happened."
Rice received a lot of calls, several
from friends at Lehman who were distressed by the devastation of their
colleagues. One told him, "I have never seen grown men cry like that."
A consultant to several financial companies relates that one friend called to
say, "I need to see you to talk me off the ledge."
NYC-area pastors also began calling
their members who work on the street. Rice got a call from his pastor, Jeff
Ebert, of New Providence Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. Fred
Provencher at Cornerstone Christian Church, also in New Jersey, asked
his team to keep tabs on anyone who might need help. This Sunday he will preach
that "things get worse before they get better. Amid the people's
groanings, God will be revealed."
New York City is the center of the world for most members of the
financial community. One chief operating officer of a multinational firm that
services Wall Street banks told CT, "It's like the old Sinatra song: 'If
you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.' So you go around with a little
swagger."
Rice says the emotional impact of the
current crisis on Wall Streeters is amplified by attitudes like those described
by the chief operating officer. "There is an element of, 'I am master of
my fate. I put in 18-hour days and am making it.' Then, this crisis pulls the
rug out from under them. This may be the first dislocation of their lives.
Their savings have disappeared in 15 minutes."
Churches and ministries in NYC also
face tests as their funding may drop. Many ministries already report that the
year's funding has been flat. Over the summer, Shiloh Bible Camp in New Jersey received
cancellations of most of their reservations due to the cost of travel and economic
uncertainty, though they were able to find other campers to fill their
schedule.
Ministries in particular are facing
big gaps in funding. Wilson Goode, former mayor of Philadelphia, thinks that "in the longer term there will be less money
going to congregations, religious institutions, and social programs." One
ministry reported that one donor this week had to cancel his $150,000 gift.
Churches' funding is more stable because they rely more on weekly tithing than
year-end gifts. Cornerstone's Provencher says, "Our weekly giving is
steady. You might say our base is flat with no gravy."
Some Christians in NYC hope that God
can use the crisis for good. Pier says, "God can use this situation as he
did in the 1857 Layman's Prayer Revival that started on Wall Street to draw
people to a fresh recognition of our absolute dependence on his grace and
love."
Mike Faulkner, pastor of New Horizon Church, says,
"Honestly, I am praying God will bring healing and revival." He
recalls how during the 1930s Wall Street crash, Central Baptist Church on Manhattan housed
people who had lost their homes. "The church should be available in every
way for people on Wall Street who maybe didn't think much about God
before."
Bethel's Caesar hopes that "the two-hour-per-week Christians will
get faith in their bones" so that it will last. "When you are in a
fox hole, people make crazy promises. Afterward, they ask God, 'Can we
renegotiate?' " Harry Tucker, a longtime strategic adviser to Wall Street
executives, believes that God has put "us in crisis to grow our
courage."
Goode brought an optimism based on
his ministry to children of prisoners in NYC: "By faith we know that
tomorrow will always be better. One should be comforted that righteousness will
prevail. Those Christians on Wall Street can go back tomorrow and simply wait
on the Lord. I have investments and if these don't turn out the way I think
they should, it is still God's will."
Tucker says the tough times return
people to foundational principles: "On the street these principles don't
resonate when the gravy train is running." The vice chair of a Wall Street
investment firm observes the struggle within himself: "You come into this
environment and it sucks it out of you. You know, I am often repentant because
I realize, man, I just … I never say and do stuff like this outside this
environment on Wall Street." For him, the crisis is also a cleansing.
Other Christian money people also
refer to working on Wall Street as working on "the dark side," with
an environment that is "absurdly secular," "out of
balance," and "egoistic." One trader says, "Some of the
times when I get on the train, it's like I go to the dark side." Nowadays
the trips are especially bleak. One chief operating officer says that maybe
Christian faith can stand out as a light of compassion and truth. "We
should not be intimidated by the magnitude of the darkness of the times, but
[should] realize how quickly the light stands out in all that darkness. We need
to turn around and realize that one match lights up all of Shea Stadium when it
is pitch black. If Christians walk like Christians, we can do it. Prayer, first
of all. So before any general ledger closes, we should pray over the
books."
Tony Carnes, based in New York City, is a senior writer for Christianity
Today.
27 Juni 2013
Selamatkan Uang Rakyat
Setiap hari
dalam perjalanan menuju tempat kerja saya akan melewati papan reklame besar
yang bertuliskan “SELAMATKAN UANG RAKYAT! Pakai BBM non Subsidi”. Dari pertama
kali reklame tersebut dipasang saat-saat menjelang sidang DPR mengenai kenaikan
harga BBM, sudah terbersit di pikiran saya, ‘apa sih maksud nih kalimat?’.
Well, saya
memang bukan pakar ekonomi, saya pun juga bukan termasuk dalam hitungan mereka
yang beruntung merasakan bangku kuliah. Namun orang-orang di sekitar saya cukup
mengakui kecerdasan saya, dan masalah hitung-hitungan saya termasuk yang bisa diandalkan.
Karena saya mampu untuk ‘berhitung di udara’ tanpa menggunakan kalkulator atau
bahkan kertas untuk coret-coretan jika situasi mendesak.
Dalam
pandangan saya sebagai orang awam, kalimat tersebut seperti salah satu soal ujian yang
ditemui saat masih sekolah di SD jaman dulu. Dimana kita diharuskan memutuskan
A/B/C/D untuk dua kalimat yang diberikan; apakah kalimat a dan b benar dan
berhubungan sebab-akibat, atau sebaliknya. Dan untuk kalimat di reklame tersebut,
saya akan menjawab B (a benar b benar tapi tidak berhubungan sebab akibat).
Saya setuju
pernyataan ‘Selamatkan Uang Rakyat’. Saya juga setuju seruan untuk tidak
menggunakan bbm bersubsidi bagi mereka yang memiliki kendaraan (terutama
mobil). Dalam hemat saya, jika memutuskan untuk membeli mobil maka haruslah
siap dengan konsekwensi berupa segala biaya perawatan maupun biaya konsumsi si
mobil tersebut. Sama seperti setiap orang yang memiliki HP, sadar resiko harus
memiliki uang untuk isi ulang pulsa. Otherwise HP tersebut akan menjadi HP
gagu karena hanya dipakai kalau ada telepon masuk.
Jika dikaitkan
tidak menggunakan bbm bersubsidi dengan menyelamatkan uang rakyat, itu yang
saya tidak mengerti. Dari mana bisa dikatakan dengan menaikkan harga BBM
artinya ‘kita’ menyelamatkan uang rakyat?
Seperti yang
saya katakan, tidak butuh gelar dan jabatan hebat untuk bisa mengkalkulasi
secara cepat bahwa dengan kenaikan harga BBM maka imbasnya akan langsung ke
semua aspek kehidupan. Harga transportasi naik, harga bahan makanan pun naik.
Jangan dulu bicara mengenai harga baju dan perlengkapan sekunder lainnya.
Bayangkan
mereka yang hidupnya dibawah garis rata-rata. Terakhir sebelum kenaikan harga
BBM diputuskan, saat saya berbelanja di pasar traditional, harga tahu putih
ukuran besar sudah mencapai Rp. 3,000.- per buah. Saya belum tahu lagi berapa
harganya sekarang setelah kenaikan harga BBM ini. Misalkan beli tahu, sayur, bumbu dapur,
katakanlah rata-rata itu semua bisa didapatkan dengan Rp. 10,000.-. Untuk makan selama
satu bulan paling tidak membutuhkan uang sejumlah Rp. 300,000.-. Tidak perlulah
saya menambahkan hitungan gas, minyak goreng, beras, dll-nya. Apalagi untuk
menyebutkan biaya transport bepergian, kebutuhan sekolah, alas kaki, ataupun
baju…?
Kemudian,
dengan 'pintarnya' pemerintah mengalokasikan dana subsidi tersebut ke ‘proyek’ BLSM.
Yang pernah saya baca di internet mengenai ‘balsem’ ini adalah berjumlah Rp.
150,000/bulan, dan di-klaim setiap empat bulan sekali. Artinya biaya hidup
untuk orang miskin adalah Rp. 600,000/4 bulan.
Apakah bisa
diterima dengan logika angka tersebut..?
Apakah BLSM dengan
anggaran yang dibudgetkan sampai trilyunan rupiah itu sudah tepat
perhitungannya dan juga bisa tiba tepat sasaran?
Dengan adanya
berita-berita yang saya baca sekilas mengenai data penerima BLSM di kabupaten
manalah tidak updated; atau ada yang tidak pantas menerima BLSM namun namanya
tercantum, juga menambah daftar kendala proses
BLSM ini. Menimbulkan pertanyaan dan kesanksian baru bagi saya, bagaimana bisa
pemerintah menetapkan angka budget BLSM jika datanya saja tidak benar…?
Hingga
akhirnya menuntun kembali ke pernyataan di reklame yang mencungkil saraf kepo
saya; apakah tepat pernyataan ‘Selamatkan Uang Rakyat’? Karena kenyataannya
rakyat mana yang merasa terbantu, ‘bisa benafas sedikit lebih lega’ dengan adanya
kenaikan bbm ini? Ataukah mungkin lebih tepatnya diganti dengan ‘Selamatkan
Kondisi Rekening Bank Kami’..??
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