The second occurrence to affect our economy was the tragedy of September 11th, the day that changed the world, America in particular, forever. At least another generation may have to pass before we fully recover from its psychological effects, and maybe even more time before we recover from the economic effects of 9/11. The tragedy of 9/11 secured Bush II another term as our president since we Americans do not usually change presidents during wartime. In a right world he never should have been President, and even in a right world gone wrong he should have only been a one term President, as his father was. While I give deference and respect to the office of the President, I will say respectfully that idealistically G. W. Bush is the spokesman for C students everywhere. He is a triumph to mediocrity and with that the, last eight years have been the most stagnant and nonproductive in American history.

So, as we now close one of the most ineffective and futile chapters of our history, we are saddled with some things that must be corrected. The national debt is over 10 trillion dollars, there is a stock market crisis, and there is a credit crisis that is looming as a threat to our way of life. When mass media and the White House begin to use the term “recession”, the truth is that we as African-Americans have been in a recession for some time in communities across the country. Although there maybe have denial of the recession by the White House, there has never been denial in homes across America. Ultimately, what we are now seeing is the correction in our markets that is needed for long-term growth. While it may be painful, this correction is necessary and holds great redemption for our future. As the Church is going through corrections also, we will see some churches closing their doors and some parishioners losing their homes. Some churches will downsize and cut back, which may be reasonable and responsible. Our theology must go back to the basics of what faith really means, where God is, and how we know divinity in our lives as we sober ourselves in the days in which we live now. I believe God, in wisdom, is hitting the reset button on our lives, and hopefully in our hearts. As we look at our world, we can see flashes of these corrections: Paula Abdul has a career again, O.J. is in jail, the Lakers are the best team in the NBA, and we are anticipating a Whitney Houston album again. Things will only get better from here.

The 90’s were a good time. So many things happen for me in the 90’s: I got my driver’s license, went to prom, graduated high school, and got married (the jury is still out on the virtue of that pursuit, however I nonetheless have a soft spot in my heart for the 90’s). We saw the end of the cold war, the rise of Michael Jordan’s Bulls, and John Elway finally got a Super Bowl ring. These were some good times. Under President William Jefferson Clinton we enjoyed an economic surplus that nurtured a time of innovation and a resurgence of the entrepreneurial spirit in America. The job rate was high, it was easy to find a well-paying job, and the American working class had options. These were good times. Hip-Hop had been birthed on the corners of urban cities as a way to give vent to frustrations with the decay of neighborhoods across the country. These neighborhoods had been torn apart by drugs and the evils of “Reganomics” that, by definition, cut taxes for the strongest wage earners and left what would be called a “trickle down effect” that was suppose to aid those in the middle and lower classes. Needless to say, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. But the 90’s are also where we saw men and women of color control the thoughts and ideas of a new generation of young people, whether they were black, brown or white. Opulence and indulgence was the underlying theme of the day. There were champagne, yachts, villas from the West Coast to the East Coast and back down South. The 90’s were “all about the “Benjamins”. We had to “Get Money” and buy “Bling, Bling” so everyone could watch us “floss”. We lived better, found out what the Robb Report was, kept an eye on Forbes magazine to see who made what and who was projected to make even more next year. Money, power, and the American dream were where we put our collective conscious. The 80’s left us wanting, thirsting for more and for better. In the 90’s, we were able to quench our thirst, and we drank and drank and drank until we became intoxicated.

So it was in the world, and so it was in the Church. We saw phenomena that our generation will most likely never see again. We saw the rise of the Evangelical church in its ability to amass great wealth, influence and political capital. We witnessed the rises of the gifted, multitasking, and media savvy entrepreneurial pastors who were able to be the center of great swellings of people and build what we now call mega-churches. The definition of mega-church is not strictly based on the number of members. It is commonly understood that the size of the church, the prominence of the pastor and the affluence of the congregation all are contributing factors in making a mega-church.

A theology called the “Prosperity Gospel” accompanied the swelling of the mega-church. It was a much nuanced approach to interpreting scripture that allowed those who read it to understand that, as Biggie said, “God meant me to push a Bentley”. Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California at Riverside, realized that Prosperity Gospel’s central promise — that God will “make a way” for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, dangerous expression during the subprime lending boom. Walton says that the Prosperity-based attitude encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe “God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house.” The results, he says, “were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers.”

This gospel was preached throughout the world with tangible and definite results. Congregations and their offerings grew. Some churches saw revenue of upwards of 50 million dollars a year. The Lord was blessing, and congregants were buying bigger houses and driving better cars. We traveled more and ate better because we believed this was the way God wanted us to live. We had testimonies that we applied for a loan to get a house that we knew we did not qualify for, but God made a way out of no way, and we called it “favor”. J. Lee Grady, editor of the magazine Charisma, says (and for the record, I hate it when he is right): “It definitely goes on, that a preacher might say, ‘If you give this offering, God will give you a house.’ And if they did get the house, people did think that it was an answer to prayer, when in fact it was really bad banking policy.” If so, the situation offers a look at how a native-born faith based partially on American economic optimism entered into a toxic symbiosis with a pathological market.

This theological thinking was very cultural. Our then President never hesitated to boast about the job rate in America, that he presided over the lowest unemployment rate in our nation’s history, the mortgage boom, and the economic surplus. What we were not told was that most, if not all, of these things were illusions at best. The surplus that we saw in the 90’s was actually a result of the cut backs in the 80’s. Freeing up the market was a correction that happened through “Reganomics and Bush I” economic initiatives.

Honestly, I must confess you were not my first pick for Commander in Chief. In the beginning, I actually didn’t have one. The Clintons had brand recognition so I was leaning their way. I thought Senator Clinton was capable and I was comforted with knowing she would be a competent commander. I thought Senator Edwards had a pristine ideology on poverty in America, and I still think his ideas are worthy of much respect. I had known you somewhat—we met many years ago while you were organizing communities across Chicago—and I found you to be knowledgeable and invested in your work, which was refreshing. So I reserved my pick and thought your candidacy was more of a token run at best. You were not as clear on the issues as I wanted you to be. I knew you were against the war and for winning. Other than that, the message early on was hazy at best. Then the strangest thing happened: you started to define yourself and you attached great political thought to an amazing human narrative. You humanized yourself while offering all Americans the hope of change that we had been desperately deprived of for some time. You took ownership of your story and you made all Americans a part of it. That was genius. Even with that, I was still reserved and did not want to seem overexcited about what I sensed was happening. Then Iowa happened and I was on board. I saw something in your eyes that night. I saw that you believed that this was really happening. I saw how you bought into the idea that the very Creator of all things we see and don’t see had called you to serve in this way. I saw that you were on fire, but you were not consumed. I saw in you that nebulous, indiscript thing that all leaders must have if they are going to be effective at wielding power with integrity, mercy and justice. I saw that you had embraced your destiny and that destiny had embraced you back. Time and destiny had met and it was absolutely beautiful to watch. Someone once said, “We are all stars that shine by the reflection others give”. We are all enhanced and brightened by your light.

I saw you the evening of the election and thought to myself, “What a tremendous burden he will have”. I was watching a movie about King David and in one scene Samuel the Prophet tells David, “God will be with you, but God makes it hard to be King”. Yours, sir, will be the most scrutinized presidency ever and subjected to tremendous and sometimes unreasonable expectations. And yet, what I sense in you millions of others do, too—actually, 63 million others. That’s good work Mr. President-Elect!!!! Leadership is a lonely enterprise and helping people is not always easy. Yet all of us who aspire to give our whole lives in service to humanity understand that it is our duty, and that our lives are what we give in exchange for being allowed to breathe and hope. You, sir, have put your hand to the arch of history and bent it towards a new and exciting day. Thank you for allowing us to watch.

In Faith,

Pastor Patrick

We must also never forget that people–human people–make up our republic. Periodically, they run for high government offices, and while running, concurrently have very real and personal issues in their homes. It is not an indictment against their commitment to serve or a reflection on their capabilities to parent. It is a very real signal to all of us that the people on TV are nothing more than just people, and they should not be required to be anything more.

In some moments we need wisdom, and in some moments our hope leads us into collective knowledge that there is wisdom to come that must not be denied. There was wisdom in that dream that we bore witness to on August 28, 1963. That dream came knocking at the conscience of a shameful America that had failed to live out the standard of respect the constitution had imputed to all citizens. When America killed the dreamer, the dream did not die. On an August night in 1988, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. told all of America to keep the hope of that dream alive. Today is the day for all Americans to know that it was not just one man’s dream, but it was a future reality that gave birth to the idea of equality for all. Barrack Obama stands as a faithful witness to the American dream Dr. King told us about that day. Yes, we have in our past denied that dream, but today all Americans can finally say, “We have come a long way.” Yes we have…

It is the little things take our hearts. It’s nothing you can do on purpose. It is the joy that is found in you being so uniquely you and that can’t be found anywhere else and we all stand infatuated by you. It is not limited by anything external. It is your voice, your walk, and your way. These things can’t be scripted, acted or even duplicated; they are just You…