Buddha for Sale

Shortly after Christmas I was walking through one of our malls here in Little Rock when I passed a store window that gave me a bit of a start. In the front window was a quite massive statue of Buddha in his traditional pose--the meditating Buddha with his eyes closed and his legs crossed. His body was gold in color. What caught my eye most, however, was that the price beside him had been reduced from $250 to $175. I wondered if this willingness to sell Buddha at a reduced price might be reflective not only of the economic times in which we find ourselves but also of the reduced interest in God (or the gods in some cases) to provide help and sustenance for us. I hope the latter will never be true.

One of the novels I am currently reading is entitled The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which won the Man Booker Prize last year. Early on in the book, the narrator Balram, or Munna, speaks of the primary religions and numbers their gods. In the Muslim faith, he counts one, Christians three (not three in one as Christians would argue), and Hindus 36,000,000. If we add Buddha, the number becomes 36,000,005 that we could possibly pray to for help. And that's just four of the primary religions!

As a Christian, of course, I find great comfort in praying to the one God of our faith during times of crisis. As I reflect upon my life for the past sixty years of prayer, I can find so many evidences of small miracles that I believe God has brought about in my behalf. These relate to receiving unexpected money when our budget was impossible to meet, having perfect timing throughout the day in accomplishing multiple tasks, and even having God leave signs of my father's belief after his sudden death. I don't think it's time to put our God on hold or on sale. He still gives hope in spite of a world which is seemingly filled with chaos, great tragedy, and sadness.