Fear No Evil

When I tuck my daughters into bed at night, or check on them one more time, a feeling of helplessness can sometimes creep in.    

What kind of world might they face someday?  Will they suffer in any way due to radical Islam or the power of our own ever-expanding government?   Will our own country be so hostile to the faith I hope they profess it will put them at risk in some way?    

It used to seem less likely and yet...I don't know.    

The people at the Boston Marathon or at a Paris concert surely thought that what happened to them was very unlikely.  When the US Ambassador was murdered in Libya in 2012 and when Americans are beheaded for all the world to see by an organization that makes Al-Quaeda look almost quaint, I felt a sense of horror and helplessness.   When it seems all precedents of evil are set, a new terror comes along for us to grapple with.  

Global things aside, we have our own self-inflicted mess, too.   I saw a fake election bumper sticker the other day that read, "Giant Meteor 2016 - Just End It Already".   It made me laugh.   It also seemed to express a collective "ughh" that most of us are feeling on either side of the election.    A speck of unity at last!  

But I don't want to be cynical.  I'm patriotic and believe in the founding principles of this country.   After a year and a half (has it been two?) of political predictions, its impossible not to wonder - could the long-range impact of the election results really affect my children's future in a negative way?   I'm an optimist by nature, but I have to accept that its possible (Supreme Court justices come to mind).    Its also impossible to put it out of mind since we must accept one of two deeply-flawed people to be our next leader.   

Whatever my children's world looks like in 20 or 30 years,  I've decided to not worry about it.  What will my worry accomplish anyway?   I have to set my sights on a firmer foundation, whatever the outcome of anything and everything, and spiritually prepare my heart and mind.

Matthew 24:6-8:  "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the be ginning of birth pains."

2 Timothy 3:1-5a:  "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power." 

So basically things going very badly won't be a surprise.   This perspective is not an invitation for us to sit around being cynical though.   There is good news, too.  

Psalm 23:4 promises, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

2 Peter 3:13, "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells."

John 14:27, "Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.” 

There are so many more scriptures that assure us good will overcome all evil.   This is just a little handful.   When your heart grows faint and fearful, open God's Word and find comfort, guidance, and peace.

Part-Time Love (Is Not)

I recently read about a new type of dating website that aims to give busy singles just what they want: intimacy with only a bit of commitment required.  The website states: "...thousands of single people who expressed a desire to fall in love, but daunted by the demands of the typical relationship: Commitment demands that you share a bed, merge your holidays, spend every Sunday together.  No wonder so many relationships fail with such a job-description." 

In the accompanying book by Helen Croyden, Screw the Fairytale: A Modern Girl's Guide to Sex and Love, she describes the "shackles of commitment" as "terrifying" and "boring alternative models of relationships".   

To be fair, I haven't read the book.  But it's presumptions are pretty clear from the description. 

Is commitment boring?   Are there any great movies or books depicting true love or real friendship that do not require commitment, sacrifice, and faithfulness?   No, because there wouldn't be much of a story to tell.   Sadly, a person who lives life this way wouldn't have much of a story to tell either.  There would be interesting moments but nothing special if a person is preoccupied with self-interest his or her whole life.    

I wonder what would happen to the world if the majority of us chose to live this way?  The real tragedy here is that this type of perspective utterly underestimates people.  It sells us short by dismissing our most noble qualities: faithfulness, loyalty, fidelity, and a willingness to sacrifice for one another.    And, yes, marital love can be terrifying when your spouse is sick or dies and you're helpless to change anything.  

 Relationships fail not because people have to share beds, holidays, and Sundays.   They fail because people enter into the commitment from a self-seeking perspective.   Their expectations, if they've bought into the world's version of romance and love, are probably close to the fairy tale that Helen Croyden rightly dismisses as unrealistic.   

Romance is not love, only a part of it.   The foundation of love is sacrifice because real love is self-less.   A passage in 1 Corinthians is heard frequently at weddings.   Consider for a moment how radically different this description of love is compared to the "modern" concept of love:

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails...(13:4-8a)

Real love is wonderful, terrifying, painful, glorious.    It is how our Creator loves us and reflecting that love in marriage is one of humanity's highest callings.   

Downton Abbey: Facing Evil Alone

 I'm not much of a TV watcher but I was captured by Downton Abbey from the first ring of a servant's bell.   The events of this past week's show (Season 4, episode 2) were a little traumatizing.   Anna, arguably the kindest character in the series, is sexually assaulted by a visiting servant while her husband, and everyone else, is upstairs listening to a guest's opera performance.     The characters have endured heartbreaking losses and behaved badly at times but this event is the most depraved of all.    Anna is found afterward by Mrs. Hughes, the housekeeper, and makes her promise to tell no one, not even her husband Bates, what happened.   Her reaction to the attack initially seems counter-intuitive.    Not even her husband?!  

The show closed with Anna appearing very traumatized but determined to be silent.  Why?  Why not let her husband Bates go after her attacker immediately while he's still around?  For one thing, Anna knows Bates would be so angry he might kill him.  Good reasoning since she doesn't want to lose her husband to prison or the death penalty.  The more complex reason may be the social stigma she would have to endure in an era that was not kind to women of any class.   In other words, her entire future would be in jeopardy.   In our era, women are encouraged to seek help immediately in such a situation and generally have immediate resources to rely upon.   But not Anna.

The most disturbing aspect of this storyline is that it was a reality faced by some women during that time.   Although innocent, the victim could pay an even higher price by seeking justice.   Short of funeral scenes, the Downton Abbey producers rarely include anything about spirituality so this deeper aspect of the characters' lives is never developed.   We will probably see signs of depression in the normally cheerful Anna as she carries this awful secret alone (except for the housekeeper).   However she deals with it, internalizing trauma will have a profoundly negative impact on her.   

Of course, the storyline has to develop so I'm guessing eventually other characters will know about it.  In the meantime, what could Anna (or anyone who's ever been in a similar situation) do?    There is One who she can go to for help.   God views rape as a grave offense.   Deut. 22:25-27 states:

But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death.  For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.

Society in that era might try to lay some of the blame on Anna (e.g. "She must've provoked him") but God makes it clear that she is to be viewed as an innocent victim.   No excuses!   Supposing justice never comes for Anna and the man is never held accountable to anyone, there is still comfort in the knowledge that God will not let it go.   Although God is love (1 John 4:8), he is also a warrior (Exo 15:3), a and defender of the weak and helpless (Ps 68:5).   Someday those who commit such crimes and never repent will stand before God and it will be absolutely terrifying, for Hebrews 10:31 states,  "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."