2025-04-14 A Meditation on Security at the Edge

“3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt 24:3-14 ESV)

Waves of pedal-meets-the-metal, our generation hears of distant wars and sees real and present wars at a distance. Somewhere, the concentric spheres of our own Security are, in the outermost realms, beginning to be tested. People are facing untold unfairness and being blotted out. People are forged in some furnace we can only pray we ourselves see in alacrity, in stark sight, in no-calm-before-the-storm Dutiful Observation (Jer 6:14; Ezek 13:16).

We are Dutiful to “go there”: some metaphysical ping-ping-ping or drop-drop-drop, our bank account balances of the Spirit accumulate for that “fourth quarter” Day of Judgment when those prophets who counseled peace and ease when there was no such blithe reality, are proven—too late to make the changes, almost—to have been false shepherds. Their people get hit hard.

But for those who were readied, first, it was a Blessed Estate they grew into: God delights to chart a course for His saints that in contrast to the faithless Pain In Our Lives, assuages and custodially leads and grants rest to. We are rested, we are prepared, we are thinking on those things most Dire, the potential—in some vaguely-glimpsed Encounter—for loads of tears, for sadness, for Pain. And in that Encounter, we are drying our eyes and standing Tall, for the latter days have stolen away all we held dear, all we assumed was our Divine Right.

To work in this Security, then, is to say how blessed is this generation that has the timely Depiction, Portrayal in Media, Reminder: that one photo of a dying soul can change the tone of a nation. Of an online crowd. Of families and logical units of socialization. Such was Christ. Such was the rumor widely told of His sacrifice.

To work in this Security, also, is to grant oneself Rest at day’s end, heightened alert a reality that we learn in trust-fall fashion to adjudicate and delegate to our peers, our brothers, sisters, on whose shoulders we lean. Accept your rest, O Man! Accept your times and seasons, O Person! Let the next phase not meet with a catch-me-up neglect! We are no longer sole masters of our Worldview: the war it meets us at a time not of our choosing, though potent be that man or woman who can state truly they knew the day and the hour, they tuned the timing belts to agitate just like so, they pressured the matter just as come-what-may time and chance, happened to all, yet in orchestration.

The theoretician, then, blesses the powers-that-be, for their emphatic role in Security, in letting the concentric circles of exposure and conflict, speak a message of Duty and Conscientiousness to all, to those preserved in their high tower or underground bunker or remote enclave, distant relatable posture. On some level, such War requires literal sacrifices of body and mind, in the faith that the Blood once shed by Christ, it is evoked and brought to mind by the soldiers who—necessarily or unnecessarily—are today on the front lines. We are not overly sophisticated: war is war, it is ugly, it is and always has been front lines meet front lines, no safe remove nor passive system of taking and giving Life. Life is costly, and we never forget this.

Forged for this hour, we enter into our life’s Meaning when we are not passe and blithe, but actually Enter the Encounter and Engage: here, I have the gusto and chutzpah, finally—long the wait sure was—to flourish. And that hour, we pray according to the dour prophecies by the dutiful pastor, is to be recognized Here and Already. We were ushered down a path pleasant, though with difficulties that trained up and taught us, forged us in a furnace, but we had the pleasant Knowledge of God-For-Us, and of completely meaningful not arbitrary Election unto the status of Saint and of Saved. This was our Momentum. This was our Energy. This was our Elation.

Fixed, “on the money”, the rumors and distant rumblings coach us to wait for the Hour, the Hour of the still small voice for those who did Wait. We were not hasty. We did not panic. We were not Eager to engage. We drove an enemy Mad by the patient Trust, the Faith of God-For-Us. And they broke themselves, like the walls of Jericho (Heb 11:30; Josh 6). They saw something in our eyes that caused Awe and Wonder, Submission and Curiosity! For it was not military victory, but a chance to Evangelize, all friends here, now, after all. Because we were not easily alarmed, not easily militant, not early to toe the line. That line is already ours, see how we own the community, find love in the community, have “our people” and “our home” and all else we are rather glib and patient to explain to a would-be enemy, is cause for praise, for honoring God.