What
makes you feel secure: (a) Job? (b) Home? (c) Pension? (d) Spouse or
friends? (e) Health? (f) Other? What would you rely on if these were
taken away? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary
Edition, page 1256).
We
can think of specific examples wherein a change is bound to make us
feel more secure. If a hurricane is headed directly for the Tampa Bay
area, it is a no-brainer that a change in the storm's path away from
threatening me would make for feelings of greater security.
Likewise, if I lost my job this afternoon, I would feel much less
secure financially; or if I were to learn from the doctor today that
I have cancer, a major foundation of day-to-day feelings of security
would be seriously fractured.
The
question “what makes for feelings of security?” becomes more
interesting if we turn away from crisis situations where the answer
is obvious and turn to sources of less dramatic stress. If we focus
on the home, it is clear that the most disruptive of all factors that
undermine feelings of security there is a perception that one is not
loved within the family unit. On a society level, the institution of
government is key. Due to the inherent police power of the state, a
state within which individual rights are not guaranteed is deeply
unsettling; as well as a perception that the state does not respect
and hold sacred the elemental integrity of other institutions
including church, family, the press, and creative enterprise. Each
of these institutions have a unique role to play and it must be a
matter of certitude among the people that the basis of mutual respect
is founded upon principle established by providence itself. As in
everything this certitude does not obviate discussion and debate as
to how best to implement principle while balancing rights and
responsibilities among all. For example, regulation of the creative
sector can be defended in terms of the common good when enterprise
seeks to usurp the regulative role of the state.
The
greatest source of anxiety in a society results when there is a
prevalent feeling that we are on the wrong track—a track that will
eventually lead to disaster. Never will all have the same
perspective, but if a sizable minority feels this way, then
intransigence will begin to appear on many fronts.
Print Page
