In 1929, as the stock...
Illustration
Object:
In 1929, as the stock market crash was at its worst, representatives of the richest banking
houses in America walked into the stock exchange with millions of dollars to spend. All
around them, brokers were frantically issuing "sell" orders; they began to buy. When
word of what they were doing got out, the panic slowed, and the market settled down to a
kind of equilibrium. Their gesture of confidence was contagious; it saved the market --
and the US economy.
It was a courageous and risky thing to do -- but then, so it is for Jeremiah, buying the field at Anathoth as the invading armies of Babylon are on the horizon. It's much easier to be a prophet of doom than it is to be a prophet of hope. There are always more people in this world who are ready to shake their heads in disbelief, to commiserate over how bad things really are, than there are people willing to pitch in and make things better.
If you know the musical, Oklahoma!, you may well remember the character named "Ado Annie." She's the girl who "cain't say, 'No.' " Ado Annie's problem, though, is minor, compared to the large numbers of people who "cain't say, 'Yes.' " To say, "Yes" to the world, to commit to something beyond ourselves, entails risk. It means putting ourselves on the line. How much easier it is to be a critic, to hang out in the wings, looking for an opportunity to say, "I told you so!"
It was a courageous and risky thing to do -- but then, so it is for Jeremiah, buying the field at Anathoth as the invading armies of Babylon are on the horizon. It's much easier to be a prophet of doom than it is to be a prophet of hope. There are always more people in this world who are ready to shake their heads in disbelief, to commiserate over how bad things really are, than there are people willing to pitch in and make things better.
If you know the musical, Oklahoma!, you may well remember the character named "Ado Annie." She's the girl who "cain't say, 'No.' " Ado Annie's problem, though, is minor, compared to the large numbers of people who "cain't say, 'Yes.' " To say, "Yes" to the world, to commit to something beyond ourselves, entails risk. It means putting ourselves on the line. How much easier it is to be a critic, to hang out in the wings, looking for an opportunity to say, "I told you so!"
