"That ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things"

"Lines for Cash" was the leading headline yesterday in the news. As thousands of customers waited hours in the heat Monday to withdraw deposits from the failed IndyMac Bank, investors dumped the stocks of many mortgage lenders, precipitating the steepest one-day decline in banking shares since 1989. Which banks are next? Are we headed into a depression? That is the question on many minds today.

Troubling financial woes are all around us--mortgage failures, bank closures, stock market declines, value of the dollar steadily decreasing as the price for oil steadily increases. Within our own neighborhood and town, hundreds are defaulting on mortgages and walking away. Cause for alarm? Of course. But not an unexpected alarm. While my stomach churns, my heart is holding steady. We have been counseled for years and years that this turbulent time in history would raise the fearful head of anguish and that hearts would fail. But anguish can be tempered with knowledge. Knowledge that these troubled times were foretold and knowledge of how to survive them.

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, and keep my commandments, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:36; JST)

There it is--the formula to endure these anquish-filled days: watch, pray, and be obedient to the commandments of God. The blessing? We will ESCAPE all these things that shall come to pass.

Trevor, Colette, Tayson, Reggie and Katie ... these things are here--financial, temporal and spiritual woes. But always remember there is a way to escape all theses things--not necessarily the pain and suffering that these times will bring--but rather a way to escape the anquish and fear that accompanies them. Keep abreast of the news, pray every day for guidance in making wise and prudent financial decisions, practice provident living, continue your education pursuits, strengthen your family ties, pray for strength to resist the power of the destroyer, and keep the commandments ... then, and only then, you can wake up each morning without fear or anquish.

So buckle your seat belt ... we're in for a wild ride. I love you all.