Revolve

The recent financial crisis seems to rock the world of it's conventional and proven methodology. What used to be "secure" or "safe" deposit suddenly doesn't hold fast anymore. What used to be leading companies turned bankrupt overnight, billionaires became paupers and top management find themselves without jobs. "What has happened to our investments?" - became the talk-of-the-town.

I read with interest at one of the articles in "My Paper" this morning. The writer shared on his investments in life - family & friends. It was an unexpected reminder from the usual financial forecast on the outlook of the economy, industry and fund performance. I started to sit back & ask myself "what were my "investments" for the year 2008? What were my ROI (return on investment)? It has always been said that no dying man will ever list down his regret in life as "not spending enough time at work". But ironically, we revolve our world around career advancement & money-making. I still remember an activity that I used to do - shading on a pie chart (that represent the 24hrs of a day), the time "invested" on the various activities on a typical day in my life. As you have guessed it correctly, I spent the most hours on activities that are deemed the least important.

This year however, I was quite satisified on my "investments". I managed to come home a little earlier from work to play with my nephew & niece. Spending time watching them grow up is my "star" investment - something which will never come by again. Without a ministry this year, I also ended up spending time reaching out to friends & ex-ministry members. I'm rather surprised at this unexpected ROI - knowing them on a deeper level than I previously did when I was in ministry. It is likely that I will stick to this "investment strategy" for the next year. My world will continue to revolve around people.

This was the same strategy that Christ took when He chose the hopeless 12 apostles to be his missionaries. Did He have a Plan B? Nope. And I think that's when the world's first "trust" fund started. It was based on the trust of a solid foundation - the goodness within humankind, created in the blueprint of God's image & likeness. Are we bold enough to revolve our lives on this trust?

"The root of Christian love is not the will to love, but the faith that one is loved"

~ Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation