Maybe you're giving thanks with good reason.  Maybe you have a place to stay tomorrow night.  Just as you did tonight, and last night, and pretty much every night for your life thus far.  Maybe you've never had to seriously wonder where you were going to sleep for the night.

In my happy-place imagining of my city, my state, my country, this is how most people are.  People with places to sleep at night.  People who have food in the kitchen not just for today or a few leftovers from lunch or dinner, but with food for several days - perhaps weeks.  People who get up and go to work each day to ensure that they have food in the refrigerator and pantry, and that they have a place to park their car and sleep in comfort and safety for the night.

What if you lost your job, though?

What if you lost your job and couldn't get another one in your field?  What if you lost your job and couldn't find another job in pretty much any field that would pay you roughly what you were making before, when the world was fine and you could pick and choose where to eat that night or what to thaw for dinner tomorrow night, or whether or not the weather was really cool enough to justify the flannel sheets on the bed?

What if you couldn't find another job for a week?  Two weeks?  A month?  Two months?  The average American household has $8000 in debt, not including things like the mortgage or even car payments.  As of 2006, Americans were actually saving negatively - they were using their savings to meet current expenses, making the US rate of savings the lowest since the Great Depression.  One report indicated that Americans save - on average - less than $400 a year.  According to this same article, the total average household debt is over $117,000 - including mortgages and home equity loans as well as credit card debt.   

How long could you pay the bills with $400 in annual savings?  How long could you keep your house?  Conventional financial wisdom says that most households are just a matter of weeks - 90 days perhaps - from being on the street if they suddenly lost their jobs and steady sources of income.  What if the bank decided to call your mortgage note?  What if your home was foreclosed on, and you were evicted?  How much of your clothes and food and furniture and belongings could fit in your cars?  Could you afford a storage unit for everything?  Would you have a massive garage sale?  How long would what you made on that last you?  Would you blow it on a night or two in a hotel?  Or would you consider holding onto the money for food, and sleeping in your car?

Last week you had a house and food to spare, closets full of clothes and rooms full of furniture.  Now you have a car or two stuffed with clothes and kids.  Last week you were the Jones' that everyone was trying to keep up with.  This week it would be generous to call you the Clampetts. 

Good, decent folk have jobs and homes and clothes and food.  But what do good, decent folk become when they lose their job?  Who bails them out?  Who gives them a helping hand to keep them on their feet?  Since when do economics define who are good, decent folk? 

We're going to be finding that out in the coming years, I suspect.  It will be a challenging time for our country.  It will be a devestating time for families and good folk all across our nation, let alone the world.  And it will be a time to find out whether people are willing to put their money where their mouths are.  Who will band together to assist those who are losing everything?  What churches will open their doors so that families can sleep in safety at night?  Why in God's name would a church ever think twice about such a proposition? 

I have much to be thankful for tonight, and a heart burdened with guilt as well.  Happy Thanksgiving.