A 544 Point Swing in the Dow - But Still Nothing Much
Okay, so after opining that nothing much has changed we get a 544 point swing in the Dow on Monday. But did anything actually change? Not really. What went down then bounced up. And so the week began with a trumpet blast that announced...nothing much.
First of all, that swing measured volatility, not change. Volatility doesn't always result in change. It might indicate that change is in the air. But in and of itself, it can be just like the wind. Things sway, maybe one or two items - like a garbage can that's not tied down - fall over. In the end, it's much ado about nothing. After dropping, things reversed - maybe not all the way back to where it began at market open, but a lot higher than the lows. So buyers did step in. And with that we're still more or less churning in what we still would characterize as a bear market rally - albeit a powerful one.
Meanwhile, there's real change in the air, having nothing to do with markets: Lent. It starts today, Ash Wednesday, for most Christians. I say "most" because many Easter Rite and Orthodox churches follow a slightly different calendar. Their Lent doesn't start for another week or so.
In any case, being Catholic, I got my ashes this morning at a church near my office. They generously offer ashes throughout the day for us business folk. When the priest applied the ashes to my forehead, he repeated the ancient reminder: "Remember thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." Actually, he said "you" instead of "thou" and "shall" instead of "shalt." Personally, I prefer the traditional language. But I accepted my ashes with gratitude.
The reminder good for so many reasons. If you wanted to focus on one, it's this: Change! That's what's in the air now, and will remain throughout the forty days of this holy season. We all need to change. Change what? Ourselves. Why?
You may have noticed that we humans tend to be quite selfish. In fact, these days we may be even a tad more so than our ancestors. Not that it's a sin or anything, but selfies? Really? And being self-centered cuts us off from God and from our neighbor. Not good.
Not good first and foremost because the Bible says - in more than one place - we should love God and love our neighbor. One passage says: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind, thy whole strength...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (I think that's at least close to what it says; but you get the point.) It's been called the "greatest" commandment. If you've never heard of it, read it again. If you have, read it again. Then ask yourself if your life reflects love of God and neighbor. If not, there's work to do.
That work is what Lent is about. The specific work we're called to perform: prayer, penance, almsgiving. Not that these are exclusive to Lent. We really should be praying, performing penance, and giving our ourselves to others throughout the year. But Lent ups the ante. We should be consciously, sincerely focus on these three areas each day in some special way. If we do that, we'll change. And if we do it in the right spirit, we change for the better.
Why the reference to "the right spirit"? Well, we humans can twist anything the wrong way if left to our own devices. And that can even apply to prayer, penance, and almsgiving. The wrong spirit means we somehow "take credit" for these efforts - something that easily feeds our pride. And pride - unless you're a living saint - infects all of us afflicted with a fallen human nature - which means all of us. You don't want to feed pride. It does just fine without the boost. So it's important to perform this Lenten "discipline" of prayer, penance, and almsgiving in a spirit that attributes any change for the better not to us but to God. And if you're really on the ball with your religion, you know that only by grace given by God can we do anything that's got any real worth in this life - which brings us back to ashes
So when you get ashes that remind you you came from dust and will return to dust, it's reminding you that life doesn't go on forever. In fact, even if we live to a ripe old age, it's really not that long in the greater scheme of things. And, yes, that means we're all going to die some day. That's where the dust comes in. This body of ours eventually becomes dust. Before it does, we get this chance to change for the better. And that's really important because when the dust settles - so to speak - we want to get to Heaven. Unless we've made some effort to change for the better, that's going to be a long shot at best. (And the alternative isn't very appealing, is it?)
With that, the day has begun. Change is in the air, having nothing to do with stock prices or the prices of anything else. Not saying we won't get any change there today. In fact, I'm expecting something more than we've seen in recent days - any day now. But when it comes, you can see why it won't hold a candle to what we've just been talking about. Right?
And speaking of candles, God willing, I'll get to Mass at lunchtime. Maybe I'll light a candle or two for some loved ones. Hey, that could be my first act of charity, part of may almsgiving a/k/a doing for others. As for prayer and penance, I've got plans for that too. But I think we covered enough for today.
First of all, that swing measured volatility, not change. Volatility doesn't always result in change. It might indicate that change is in the air. But in and of itself, it can be just like the wind. Things sway, maybe one or two items - like a garbage can that's not tied down - fall over. In the end, it's much ado about nothing. After dropping, things reversed - maybe not all the way back to where it began at market open, but a lot higher than the lows. So buyers did step in. And with that we're still more or less churning in what we still would characterize as a bear market rally - albeit a powerful one.
Meanwhile, there's real change in the air, having nothing to do with markets: Lent. It starts today, Ash Wednesday, for most Christians. I say "most" because many Easter Rite and Orthodox churches follow a slightly different calendar. Their Lent doesn't start for another week or so.
In any case, being Catholic, I got my ashes this morning at a church near my office. They generously offer ashes throughout the day for us business folk. When the priest applied the ashes to my forehead, he repeated the ancient reminder: "Remember thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." Actually, he said "you" instead of "thou" and "shall" instead of "shalt." Personally, I prefer the traditional language. But I accepted my ashes with gratitude.
The reminder good for so many reasons. If you wanted to focus on one, it's this: Change! That's what's in the air now, and will remain throughout the forty days of this holy season. We all need to change. Change what? Ourselves. Why?
You may have noticed that we humans tend to be quite selfish. In fact, these days we may be even a tad more so than our ancestors. Not that it's a sin or anything, but selfies? Really? And being self-centered cuts us off from God and from our neighbor. Not good.
Not good first and foremost because the Bible says - in more than one place - we should love God and love our neighbor. One passage says: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind, thy whole strength...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (I think that's at least close to what it says; but you get the point.) It's been called the "greatest" commandment. If you've never heard of it, read it again. If you have, read it again. Then ask yourself if your life reflects love of God and neighbor. If not, there's work to do.
That work is what Lent is about. The specific work we're called to perform: prayer, penance, almsgiving. Not that these are exclusive to Lent. We really should be praying, performing penance, and giving our ourselves to others throughout the year. But Lent ups the ante. We should be consciously, sincerely focus on these three areas each day in some special way. If we do that, we'll change. And if we do it in the right spirit, we change for the better.
Why the reference to "the right spirit"? Well, we humans can twist anything the wrong way if left to our own devices. And that can even apply to prayer, penance, and almsgiving. The wrong spirit means we somehow "take credit" for these efforts - something that easily feeds our pride. And pride - unless you're a living saint - infects all of us afflicted with a fallen human nature - which means all of us. You don't want to feed pride. It does just fine without the boost. So it's important to perform this Lenten "discipline" of prayer, penance, and almsgiving in a spirit that attributes any change for the better not to us but to God. And if you're really on the ball with your religion, you know that only by grace given by God can we do anything that's got any real worth in this life - which brings us back to ashes
So when you get ashes that remind you you came from dust and will return to dust, it's reminding you that life doesn't go on forever. In fact, even if we live to a ripe old age, it's really not that long in the greater scheme of things. And, yes, that means we're all going to die some day. That's where the dust comes in. This body of ours eventually becomes dust. Before it does, we get this chance to change for the better. And that's really important because when the dust settles - so to speak - we want to get to Heaven. Unless we've made some effort to change for the better, that's going to be a long shot at best. (And the alternative isn't very appealing, is it?)
With that, the day has begun. Change is in the air, having nothing to do with stock prices or the prices of anything else. Not saying we won't get any change there today. In fact, I'm expecting something more than we've seen in recent days - any day now. But when it comes, you can see why it won't hold a candle to what we've just been talking about. Right?
And speaking of candles, God willing, I'll get to Mass at lunchtime. Maybe I'll light a candle or two for some loved ones. Hey, that could be my first act of charity, part of may almsgiving a/k/a doing for others. As for prayer and penance, I've got plans for that too. But I think we covered enough for today.
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