Security

"Security is mostly superstition. " (Helen Keller).

I have been writing an article for some while on the competing dreams of what Jesus spoke of in the Kingdom of God verses the American dream. At the top of the list was this idea of security and how much of our lives are lived in the pursuit of it. Safety (or at least the appearance of it) is very important to us. Although we live in a post-9-11 era and America seems much more fearful, I just didn't feel as though I quite had a handle on what I was writing.

Then we got robbed.

I received the phone call yesterday that our home had been invaded and a few things had walked off with our uninvited guests. Of course, it has shaken us. Shock turns to panic which turns to fear which turns to anger. Typical reactions, I'm sure. It's not too difficult, though, to come to grips with the loss of stuff or even the property damage left behind, but a home invasion brings with it a loss of security and feelings of vulnerability.

It's not just stuff that gets stolen.

From time to time, I am reminded that the world is such an insecure place. Perhaps those reality checks can help me to identify with how most of the world really lives most of the time. How many people consistently live with the possibility of the loss of property, loss of security, loss of dignity, or loss of life? Anyone at anytime can take those things away from me, so I suppose it's best not to trust in stuff or even in personal security. Those who trust Christ and live in those parts of the world have a deeper understanding of many of Jesus' teachings then I will ever have! I am learning that my security has to come from some place that no man can touch.

The words of Jesus always seem to run counter to my nature. My desire for economic compensation and justice (or, dare I say it, retribution) compete with what I know he taught on the subject. I suppose it's easy to be nonviolent when you're not the one being aggrieved!

Jesus said in Luke 6:29 that if someone takes from me my cloak, I am not to stop him from taking my tunic as well. The cloak was an outer garment for warmth and protection from the elements while the tunic was an outer garment that covered you up (like a shirt and trousers do for us today). The loss of the cloak would have meant exposure to the elements while the loss of the tunic would have meant exposure and vulnerability of another kind. Giving up your tunic would have left you feeling a bit more exposed in public.

Indeed.

We will struggle for a little while longer with feeling a bit more "exposed" and insecure in our neighborhood. Perhaps it will take even longer to come to grips with how Jesus taught us to love our enemies in context of Luke 6:27-36. One thing I am sure of when I read Jesus...loving our enemies requires us to count the cost, and I am learning that the Way of Christ runs on a very different economy than the American way.