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BY DEAN J. SNYDER

Inauguration 2009 should not be like other recent inaugurations.

We are facing an economic crisis that is already resulting in older people experiencing hardships because of the declining value of their retirement funds, in younger people losing their homes because of soaring interest rates, and in younger and older people losing their jobs. The number of homeless and marginalized seeking our help is rising substantially. Some of our members are turning to us for financial help. No one seems to have any idea where this crisis is going to end.

My generation of Americans has not been good stewards of our inheritance. In 1947, the year I was born, the United States was the world's largest producer of oil, steel, airplanes, automobiles and electronics. The United States was responsible for one-third of the world's exports. We extended credit to the rest of the world.

Now, 61 years later, all this has changed. We are now importing 60 percent of the oil we use and are consuming one out of every four barrels of the world's oil. We import dramatically more goods than we export -- to the tune of more than $800 billion a year. In 2005, Americans hit a tipping point where. collectively, we now owe more than our assets are worth. Basically we have collectively become a nation of debtors.

My generation has not been willing to curb our appetite for more. We spent rather than saved. If we wanted it and couldn't afford it, we borrowed. We spent our collective inheritance and have borrowed against our children's and grandchildren's future.

Inauguration 2009 is not a time for the focus to be solely on parades, balls and parties. This is a time for us to roll up our sleeves and serve. It is a time for us to study and learn. It is a time for us to pray and recommit ourselves to frugality and sacrifice.

I have lived in Washington, D.C., during two previous inaugurations. I remember riding Metro early one evening on one of these inauguration days. The other people riding Metro with me were evenly divided between people carrying protest signs and people dressed in tuxes and gowns on their way to parties. My fantasy was that Metro would break down and we all might be forced to talk with each other and get to know each other for the rest of the day.

I hope that during Inauguration 2009 we might come together across party and ideological lines, that we might talk and study together, that we might work on behalf of the poor side by side, that we might discover in one another the portion of truth that each of us has received.

As millions of people visit our region this January, I hope United Methodists, whatever our party affiliation, might witness together to a common commitment to Christ and the realm of God's love, justice and inclusion that Jesus came to teach us about.

The Rev. Dean J. Snyder is the senior pastor at Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C.