America is throwing billions of dollars at the economic virus that has brought Wall Street to its knees and spread throughout the world. To date there is not much evidence the sickness is cured. The disease is not spreading as quickly as it did during 2008 but neither is it showing signs of improving in the short term. Gideon Rachman, writing in the Financial Times today, says that most economists missed the scale of the current crisis and there is little confidence they know the correct cure. He asks: “What if economics is, actually, at the same level as medicine was when doctors still believed in the application of leeches? Or what if economics has indeed made great progress, but we are facing a new type of economic virus for which we have not yet identified a cure – the H5N1 of economic crises?” There is no guarantee the current world economic crisis will be over soon. I don’t think anyone really knows the way forward to to the future. It could be longer than we suspect and we may yet see unimaginable changes in American society. For the past eight years, since 9/11, we have been in a “shadow war” that has gradually altered America’s role in the world while further eroding parts of the social fabric. We don’t always see it because the structure of power and wealth is still in place. But much has changed. This current economic crisis is like a rampant virus that resists the traditional cures. The longer it is active the more damage it will do to the world economy. Calls for changes in international economic structures will rise as leaders grapple with the fallout of the current crisis. No one wants to see the strides made in globalization come apart in a fratricidal war like that of World War I. Christ warned us to discern the times, not just the immediate conditions in the sky (Luke 12:54-56. We are living through times of great change. If indeed these are the times of the end of the age we would be wise to understand we have a chance to change the way we think abd live. Let’s not lose this opportunity.