“Security is an illusion,” I complained to Ed, my old neighbour from Saskatchewan. I had received a letter concerning my pension plan from my church’s denomination. It seems it is no longer as secure as it should be. This unsecured pension plan could spell a big hole in my self-sufficiency in my future years. According to a major newspaper article, I am just becoming like many Canadians who cannot assume they will have a secure work pension in the future.
Everyone has watched stock market plunges that have devalued everyone's savings in the short term. These stock market plunges have been estimated to have drained retirement accounts by $50 billion. Sadly, significant companies and industries have toppled, putting once-secure pension plans into bankruptcy.
Past U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower said, “If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom.” Life is never secure even in prison. Sudden death happens when we least expect it. Unexpected deaths occur even at hospitals and nursing homes. While sudden deaths have different causes, they are all unanticipated. Loved ones are left in shock like they were hit by lightning out of the blue.
Sudden death happened at the wrong time and place in the Bible. The disciples of Jesus told Jesus how some Galileans had come to the temple and were killed with their sacrifices there. The disciples felt the Galileans must have done great evil to suffer such a sudden and brutal death. Jesus warned his disciples that death could come to anyone and we can perish at any time. We all need to daily repent because accidents can happen even when one is working. Eighteen workers were building a tower in Jerusalem when it collapsed on them and killed them. We pride ourselves on being self-sufficient and trusting in ourselves, our money and possessions to keep us secure.
Jesus reminds us that we all need to repent daily, for sudden death can happen to us any place or day. God is to be our security and sufficiency in all our days and nights. Job understood, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Speaking for myself, I know I did not create myself in my mother's womb. I did not design and develop my body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members and senses. I did not give myself clothing and food as a baby. As a child, I did not provide myself with house and home. As an adult, I cannot protect myself from all danger and the time of my death. I believe it is God who provides me with what I need to support my body and life until my death.
When Jesus reminded his disciples to repent, when they spoke about the sudden death of others: I believe it was because it warns us that our death could be any time. I worry about pension security when my life is fleeting away, and I should be worried about being repentant and trusting with faith in God. My pension does not affect my time to die.
