Shaken Not Stirred

For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. – Haggai 2:6-7

Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. – Hebrews 12:27-28

Clothes don’t mean that much to me.
Why don’t you go and ask the Snake?
What really turns me on, is the shake.
-- Neal McCoy

Henry Paulson, former Secretary of the Treasury, has written a book called On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System. In interviews promoting his book, Mr. Paulson tells us that he could envision the destruction of the entire American way of life if Wall Street investment banks collapsed under the weight of their derivatives speculation. Mr. Paulson relates that this prospect caused him great fear. He tells how, at one point, he stepped out into the hall and called his wife to ask her to pray for him. It is worth noting that Secretary Paulson is a member of the Church of Christ Scientist.

Now I think that Mr. Paulson, along with George Bush and Congress, were wrong in bailing out the system, but I will admit I’m no expert and I’m not sure how dire the consequences would have been. Would Main Street have felt the tremors of Wall Street giants leaping from ledges? We would have – though most of us believe that we are plunging or about to plunge over an equally high and abrupt precipice of massive debt and out-of-control government spending. Simple folks without prestigious rank and titles suspect that all Secretary Paulson and the government accomplished was to create a new bubble to replace housing – a government-spending bubble which will be far more temporary and far more disastrous when it bursts than anything we have experienced so far. During one of Henry Paulson’s interviews he said that he did not want to be the Treasury Secretary who presided over the collapse of the system. I can’t say that I blame him for that. Most of us can feel some sympathy for his position while being less than pleased with his actions and the ultimate result. Perhaps history will be kind to him and allow his name and his contribution to be forgotten when the shaking finally comes.

The reason I mention all of this is that it is makes easy to see that fear is the primary motivating factor of the world system. The old nature tends to operate out of fear when it is not building on the sandy soil of hubris. Since the Garden we try to find those things that make us feel good, and, having acquired them, we fear their loss. It is the inclination of fallen man to deify self by trying to control certain aspects of life. It never works but failure doesn’t stop us from trying. If we were more objective about our foibles we could find them amusing, even endearing – much the way we feel when watching small children have tea parties or care for their dolls.

We build and buttress, fence and defend. We lose sleep worrying. We scheme and sweat. There is no end to our clever endeavors and the intricate intrigues pursued in our effort to insulate the very vulnerable self from the raw reality of existence. Oddly enough the one thing that is permanent, the truly eternal, is the One that we avoid. Our bare soul with nothing between it and God is the only unshakeable foundation.

There is no need to fear. When the shaking comes it will only remove the dross, those things that are of no value or consequence. When it is all over we will know what is pure and good and true for only those things will be left. All the wood, hay, and stubble will be shaken loose and consumed by that fire – not a fire of destruction and loss but of restoration and resurrection.