Hedges

The world is a dangerous place, you know that.  I’m probably not going to make you feel more comfortable.  I hope my words do just the opposite. 
 
The harsh reality is this; our lives are at risk.  In every moment there is something that can, could, and at some point will get us.  If it isn’t liquid bombers on the plane it’s the mugger on the street late at night.  If it isn’t someone out of control on the freeway it is my carelessness at home.  Within and without, danger sits ready.  Your life is at risk as is mine; every community has a seat in this boat.
 
The solution is to prepare.  Insurance policies, guarantees and warranties, even guide and body guards fill individual lives.  Yet none of these prepare and guard the soul.  It can be as simple as a careless word or a dashed moment of love.  It can be as fleeting as a simple glance in passing.  Sometimes it isn’t an action at all, rather the lack of something.
 
Whatever it is, when it hits it’s devastating.  It “then you'll see that your precious life insurance policy wasn't worth the paper it was written on.  Your careful precautions against death were a pack of illusions and lies.  When the disaster happens, you'll be crushed by it.”  (Isaiah 28.18)  There is no obvious guard for the heart.
 
We don’t need to flounder, waiting for tragedy to tear at the heart.  There is something you and I can do.  We can turn to a God has struggled with the demons, fought tragedy and won, and even born the sacrifice which can come with community.  In this moment we can rediscover that there is a balm to soothe our hearts and give us light in the darkness.  It can sound frivolous, in reality it is anything but. 
 
Our insurance is found in letting God permeate our hearts with compassion, mercy, and acceptance.  Our fortitude comes in making God’s words part of our life’s rhythm.  It’s in our step with God at dawn where life begins.