Vulnerability Index: Feel swamped in our volatile world? Some answers from the ages

Experts in finance explained to me an interesting index in the financial market. Those who trade and watch the markets on a daily basis monitor the Volatility Index (VIX).

A volatility index monitors the S&P 500 Index. Other indices watch the market’s likelihood of making sudden, unexpected price movements.

Other indices monitor volatility of the Nasdaq-100 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The volatility index calculates a number which, if it stays at or below 20, the feeling is that we are in a stable market. If the volatility index exceeds 30, many experts say that we are in a volatile market.

So when my friends showed me that day that the VIX was at 48.54, it does not take an expert to understand that there is trouble.

Could we add another kind of index that I would call the Vulnerability Index?

This index would not measure stocks or market-price fluctuations. Rather, it would measure our spiritual vulnerability in America today. I would be looking at how we as citizens of this nation feel about our state-of-being and our security in the world today.

Right now we are contending with quite a few elements that are making our VIX exceed 30 as well. We have a possible pandemic coronavirus that has begun to make its presence known in our nation. Officials, including the president, tell us not to panic. We see over 55 nations impacted by this virus.

My discussions with local health experts sound like this: “Rabbi, the virus is coming to us whether we like it or not. We have to prepare. Keep washing your hands. Remember every time you wash your hands it should take about 20 seconds. Don’t forget only to get soap that says antibacterial.”

How vulnerable are we?

Now we have the presidential primaries. Right after our South Carolina Democratic primary came Super Tuesday.

The stakes are high, with such issues as the nation’s security and future funding of Medicare and Social Security at risk. Health insurance is surely one of the elephants in the room for every American.

How vulnerable are we?

We have witnessed the tensions between the U.S. and Iran almost boil over into armed conflict. The economy is still fluctuating with the volatility of supply lines in China impacting our goods and services in America. There is, of course, the ongoing issues of the opioid crisis and daily gun violence.

How vulnerable are we?

One could say that the Vulnerability Index in America might match the market’s recent Volatility Index as well. Fluctuations in finance and in mental or spiritual health do not bode well for our country.

So where does religion fit in?

Does religion help us counteract the Vulnerability Index? We know that the human psyche impacts the stability of our economy. Can’t our ability to overcome our fears stabilize our sense of well-being too?

In my religion’s prayer book we read, “Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.”

Can a person’s faith affect the Vulnerability Index? Faith can strengthen our resolve. Faith can give us hope to cope in an unpredictable world. Prayer reminds us to hold fast to core values when we feel threatened by external chaos.

We can bring down the Vulnerability Index when we raise up the faith and hope index in our lives.

The new Vulnerability Index tells us about the soul of human beings. Scriptures teach us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Yes, we are individuals and we all want to survive and do what it takes to protect our families.

At the same time, we are a community. America is a community. We are all in this virus, in this economy, in this election of a president together.

Isaiah said, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (41:10).

This is the credo for the Vulnerability Index. Feeling vulnerable is not a weakness. Rather, it is a sign that religion confronts and can prevail over the deepest fears that humans have.

Two hundred years ago a Rabbi Nahman said, “The whole world is a narrow bridge, and the essential thing is not to fear at all.”

Fear is the opioid of the Vulnerability Index and faith is the healing balm that we need in uncertain times like now.

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 9:00 AM.