Volume 32

Cash was his middle name — literally. James Cash Penney’s name was not only a play on words, it was prophetic. At 50, he was making well over a million dollars a year. Not exactly Penney-ante stuff.

The son of a Baptist minister, James graduated from high school in Hamilton, Missouri, and got a job with a local dry goods merchant. Hard working and scrupulously honest, the young man formed a partnership with two other businessmen and eventually came to own three retail outlets called the Golden Rule Stores, a name taken from the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:12: “Do for others what you would like them to do for you.”

By 1912, there were 34 of the stores. A year later Penney adopted a code of ethics in which he said he would ask customers for “fair remuneration and not all the profit traffic will bear.” He promised to test “every policy, method and act in this wise: Does it square with what is right and just.” Though his competitors ridiculed him, Penney’s business experienced explosive growth, expanding to 1,400 outlets by 1929 — just in time for the crash of the stock market.

That financial crisis, which came while Penney was still grieving the loss of his wife in childbirth, plunged the tycoon into a deep depression and he checked himself into a Michigan sanatarium. “I was... filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope,” he said. “I had nothing to live for. I felt I hadn't a friend left in the world.”

But early one morning, drawn to a chapel service in the sanatarium, Penney heard a song that touched him profoundly. It was the Christian classic, God Will Take Care of You. Through ev'ry day, o'er all the way; He will take care of you, God will take care of you. “I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before, Penney said later. “From that day to this, my life has been free from worry.”

Penney recovered emotionally and financially and resumed his charity work. In 1940, a man named Sam Walton went to work for Penney in Iowa, perfect training for a future billionaire who went on to found WalMart in 1962.

And J.C. Penney did all right for himself, too. When he died at 95, he was one of America’s most successful retailers. Today, the chain is still going strong, thanks largely to successful advertising slogans such as “It’s All Inside” and “Every Day Matters.”

On a spiritual level, the founder would’ve smiled approvingly. J.C.. Penny knew that, when it comes to the things in life that really matter, it is all inside and —truly — every day matters. In today’s success-obsessed society, if your life is golden, you rule. which isn’t exactly what Jesus had in mind, but God’s storekeeper reminds us that faith, fairness and fidelity still count. All of us would do well to measure what we do against the same Christ-centred standard Penney used: what’s right and just.

Not even the most pious get a free pass from pain and heartache, but our Father does promise to use his power to bring healing and wholeness. God will take care of you, through every day, and all the way. Like Penney, you can take that to the bank. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything,” the apostle Paul says. “Tell God what you need and thank him for all He has done. If you do this, you’ll experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7)

When we face uncertainty, our hearts (emotions) and minds (intellect) are guarded against hopeless despair when we remind ourselves how God has come through for us in the past. That should give us trust as we pray, especially when we thank him for all He’s done, a wonderful way to keep our balance and perspective amid turmoil.

In other words, it’s a chain reaction: prayer and thankfulness bring trust and peace. We, and others who learn from us, will be blessed if we keep our heads and let God keep our hearts.

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article.