Security Blankets [a long and rambly ramble]

Almost all kids have one at some point in their lives. For some it's an actual blanket, for others maybe a stuffed animal - some have an article of clothing, a favorite toy, a lucky coin or number, an accessory or even a routine. For me it was a little wooden baseball bat strung on a red cord, and it fit nicely in my 3 year old mouth. I don't know where it is anymore, but I do remember wearing that around my neck a little too much. And oh the irony, since I, um, dislike/can'tfollow/whathaveyou baseball.

Most people let that go and move onto bigger and better things in life, like family, friends, education, career, status... But every once in a while, they join the countless others who indulge in a small, suppressed reminisce back to the safety of their blankets long ago...

And for what? For the security of knowing, knowing that even though you may not know, you are safe and sound, because nothing can remove you from the bosom of Security Blanket, of Teddy Bear. And so so often, most especially now, they look back through that pane of glass called memory and wonder - where has it all gone?

No matter how old we are, we yearn for security - whether in the form of a piece of fabric, or a parent's arms, or a carefully planned account of savings. Yet in times like now and in all times unlike now, security can vanish. So quickly, the fruit of a life's work can whither away, a flower in full bloom can be swept away by the wind. Security, whether physical or emotional, can easily crumble.

It's so sad how castles filled with precious treasures of hope and happiness and longing are often built with frail shavings of wood upon seas of sand. Come the storm and waves, a strong wind or a gentle breeze, even a butterfly's softest movement, and it will fall, burying with it its precious, irreplaceable and irreparable treasures... And it's so heartbreaking to see it happen. You see the waves coming. You can see even the individual molecules of air move, one by one, rumbling slowly toward the impending destruction that seems so unavoidable. And when it hits, it all comes crashing down, piece by broken piece until sand and wood and hope and happiness are all indistinguishable in the aftermath of despair.

The only source of true security is the Cornerstone, the Solid Rock on which to stand. It stretches beyond the reaches of economic hardship, beyond the depths of a despairing heart, past anything that shakes our lives in this world and beyond it. The impossible stains that are washed away never have a chance of coming back, no matter how terrible or afraid or weak we are. The vast, grey  span of Unknown in our future will never have a chance of outdarkening, smudging, even casting the slightest shadow on the glorious, radiant, and decidedly sure future that Dad has in store for us. The most emotionally, physically, mentally painful moments or journeys or even lifetimes that we may face... they will never outdo, even shift the balance at all, of the incredible and humanly impossible healing that Jehovah-Rophe, our Comforter, Strengthener, Sanctifier can and loves to bestow upon us. Because nothing, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What security I've been blessed so graciously with, I can't ever pay back... I've barely seen a shadow of despair in my own life, only a subtle ripple of its presence, and only reflections of unfathomable (for me) grief in the lives of others. I've been blessed to be wrapped in the arms of safety and shelteredness, and for how much longer I don't know. But oh that if this spoils me, allows me to nurture any more this ugly thing called pride... It's foolish though to hope for trouble. Rather, I hope for a melting of my heart even more...

It's alright to look back to your security blanket! There is no shame in admitting that sometimes we can't do it all. There is no shame in admitting we want security, and that what we do on our own cannot suffice... in fact, it's the truth, and there is no shame in the truth. I hope that all can have this security that can be found nowhere else.

As a sidenote, I wonder, what would an infomercial for God be like?

[originally posted 1/16-2:14]