The headline of the Sunday newspaper of February 10, 2002, sent a chill throughout South Africa. Our country's eighth largest bank had suffered a run by depositors who withdrew one billion rands ($87 million) in a week amid worries that bad debts in its microlending business had put the bank under pressure. The panic withdrawal was also prompted by a collapse in the bank's share price on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Depositors were in tears, angry, frustrated, and very worried that they would lose their hard-earned money. Employees wondered if they would still have jobs, and depositors couldn't draw money from ATMs since the 52 branches of the bank were closed. Many people had put all their money into this bank. Urgent prayer was needed.
First, I refused to accept the thought that motives such as anger, discouragement, resentment, selfishness, dishonesty, will power, and hatred could influence me or anyone. To me, these are the real criminals. They steal away happiness. If I accepted such feelings into my thinking or attributed them to others, they would become part of my life. So I filled my thoughts with love, humility, honesty, patience, and charitableness.
