Sunday, October 6, 2013: Lamentations 1:1-6; 3:19-26; Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

In late July the largest city in my state declared bankruptcy. In 1950, Detroit, Michigan, was the fifth largest city in the nation, roughly the same size as Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Booming automobile companies made middle-class citizens of people who worked in them. If a worker showed up on time and did his job, his union would see to it that he had comfortable wages, excellent health care and a generous pension. A single worker could support a family with food, clothing, a house, a car and an annual vacation. But by 2008 these terms were unsustainable and were part of what drove the auto companies to bankruptcy.

Today Detroit has $18 billion in unfunded promises, including commitments to retired police and firefighters. Its population has shrunk by over 60 percent and its tax base along with it. Forty square miles of the city are strewn with weeds and rubble. Whole neighborhoods sit desolate, their houses standing empty and forlorn, with gaping roofs, toppled chimneys, missing doors and busted windows.

Municipal services are a shambles. Buses don’t show up at their stops. Aging police cars break down in city streets. Calls to 911 go unanswered. “In a life or death emergency,” said the Detroit News, “you might as well ask for a hearse.”