The Altar of Security

This post has been percolating in my mind since last week when a first grade class in a quiet elementary school became the killing fields for a sick and sad young man. Like the rest of the nation my questions centered around why, and what could be done to prevent, what went wrong, who missed the clues? Tragedy of this magnitude is simply hard to fathom. I can't imagine what the parents, grandparents, friends and community are going through. The snapshots of parents receiving the crushing news about their precious babies will be forever etched in my mind. Anxiety replaced by news that will change the shape of their world and their hearts forever, the images will not go away, ever.

The stories of courageous educators shielding their young charges hits home with me. Both of my daughters are educators, my bride is a 20 year veteran in the library at our local elementary. I have no problem envisioning all my girls stepping into the breach, unarmed, except for the warrior spirit they each carry. There is no doubt in my mind that they would act exactly as the brave ladies from last week, sacrificing their own lives to save a few. I have no doubt at all, and it makes me proud and sick at heart all at the same time.

What I haven't been able to stomach in the days since the shooting is the political agendas from both the professional politicians and the pompous talking heads. All are trying to frame the event to their advantage. Some are saying it is a gun issue, others are claiming it is a mental health issue, school security, law enforcement, the list goes on and on. It is never ending the ability of ego-centric people to bend world events to their view. I can't listen to them anymore.

The real issue is that this world is a battleground. It is Evil against Good. There are no rules, there are no DMZs, everyone is engaged in the battle. But in America we have selected a philosophy that we hope will take us out of the battle. We have decided that we can do anything to anybody in the name of security. We worship at the altar of Security.

This philosophy invades every fiber of our society. My work takes me all over the country. I will fly over 100 segments this year. Several times a week I have to strip off my shoes, my belt, empty my pockets, put all liquids in a bag, take my laptop out, to go through "security". On the occasion when I can use TSA Pre-Check, it only reminds me that most of the time I can't. But the reality is that TSA hopes and I hope that someone hasn't found a way to blow a hole in the plane at 30,000 feet. The reason this is so important is not that the 150 souls or so on board are precious, but that the news account would shake the "security" of the economy of one of our largest industries.
All we need to do make us all safe is to take away all the guns, all the drinking alcohol, drugs, bad drivers, slick roads, find a cure to all terminal illnesses, get rid of heart disease, cancer, and saturated fats and then we can all sleep well at night. It can't be done. Because then people would worry themselves to death because they are worried about retirement, we won't have enough social "security" to see all the way to the end. Preachers have focused for decades on "salvation", why? because it is our security blanket in the great uncounting beyond.

We as a society cannot build enough walls, enough safe guards, enough rules, enough regulations to guard us against the Evil that lurks. As sad as it is to see precious little ones die before they have had a chance to live, it is not something this battle we call life will allow.

And I'm not sure we should want to. Have we traded one fear for another when our schools are barred, guarded by military, and locked down? Have we traded risk for imprisonment? I am reminded of a story of a wealthy man who had an only son. He kept this son confined to their estate, with any luxury the son needed. On his 18th birthday the father allowed the son to go free into society. The excitement killed the boy.

My heart breaks for the parents of those kids, for the spouses and kids of those educators, but it reminds me that the battle rages on, and it reminds me that another father took the risky road and sent his son, not to live securely, but to die. The first battle cry in the war was a baby's whimper from a manger. The Evil One has never forgotten or forgiven that defeat.

Godspeed to all the risk-takers, the ones who fight the battle, who stand in the way and will not allow Evil to win the day. The battle rages, take heart, it is okay to cry, but through the tears Good must fight on.
Don