Closing Up Shop

The news channels and several political figures have been hinting at a government shutdown for days now. Inspite of the shutdown that took place in Albany last year, something similar to it at the federal level just seems unlikely. Although it has happened 4 times already in the past, the most recent in 1995, I still can't wrap my mind around the concept of grown, supposedly level-headed people, stubbornly standing by their own agenda at the expense of the whole nation. It's not that I refuse to acknowledge the fact that budget issues do have the potential to cause such conflicts but I just can't accept that something is so irreconcilable that the only option is to shut everything down.

CNN's Your Money maintains that nobody wins in a shutdown and that the public are the big losers whenever something of this sort happens. And I totally agree. Although only non-essential services are affected, hundreds of thousands will still be affected, especially the people working at those offices.

Ever since New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has announced budget cuts, all city employees have been on edge. Although I'm not worried, I still can't help but feel for those who are. The economic recovery of the past year is still so fragile that no one has decided to put their guard down simply because the guarantees of keeping one's job is as fickle as the weather. I personally know of a lot of people in my church who have been jobless for more than 6 months and someone who has recently found one is not sure how long he'll be able to keep it.

In these uncertain times, it's easy to be caught up in doubt and be insecure about the future. It's not uncommon for people to forget that God is in control. And I couldn't blame them. When our realities are anything but bleak it's often difficult (if not impossible) to see beyond what our eyes can see. But whether we're inclined to believe it or not, God is not unaware of what's going on in our economy and even the worst of situations are differently packaged blessings. Government shutdown or not, my God is bigger!