Think
back to the time when you were a child and the thunder rolled outside your
house. Flashes of lightning lit up your bedroom even though it was night, the
binds were shut, and the curtains were drawn. What was your reaction? Who did
you run to? What did you clutch on to? In other words, what was your “security
blanket”? I did not have a blanket like the Peanuts character Linus. I had a
“security bunny.” It was a bunny that I would drag down the steps at
night to the landing in our three-story house. There I would fall asleep night
after night comforted by my security bunny and the muffled voices of my parents
in the living room. I didn’t need a thunderstorm to drive me to seek security. Childhood
insecurities I already had made my “security bunny” my inseparable sidekick. I
do not remember when I released my emotional grip on that bunny or why I set that
gold-colored friend aside. It just gradually happened I suppose. Sometime ago, I
walked into my granddaughters’ room in upstate New York, and there spied my old
friend slumped to one side on an upper shelf in her room. Long time, many decades,
no see!
I look upon that “security bunny” with
amusement now. At the time, however, the bunny was serious business. When I
went away to stay at someone’s house, bunny went with me. Vacation required a
place in the suitcase for bunny. Even in early grade school, bunny was placed
on my pillow after the bed was made. However, when my buddies came to the
house, bunny was quickly sequestered to the shelf in my closet! I did not need
to supply ammunition for teasing. Gradually bunny stayed in the closet until
one occasion in my later grade school years. Both of my parents were
hospitalized at the same time and I had to live with my Aunt for several weeks.
Somehow, I reasoned that I needed that bunny. He was squashed into my little
cardboard suitcase. Each evening bunny came out for a comforting hug before I
went to sleep. He was now a secret bunny – only brought out for an
emergency.
One could reason that I had insecurities.
I would agree. However, I wonder how many others have similar insecurities. In
these perilous days, what “security blankets” are people holding on to? I
wonder has our security blanket been reduced to rolls of toilet paper? I
recently read an article quoting Dr. Thea Gallagher, director of the Outpatient
Clinic at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University
of Pennsylvania. She suggests there is psychological reason for the behavior of
people buying massive amounts of toilet paper. She concludes, “I think that
people feel like there’s not much that they can control right now," she
told TODAY. "There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of information going
around, a lot of impending doom, and so I think part of [hoarding toilet paper]
helps people to feel like they have a
little
bit of control over what’s happening to them in their lives.” She added, “It’s
an absolute illusion because this whole thing is rolling out and there’s very
little we can do… "Yeah, we can wash our hands and have some control, but
that’s not ultimate control and I think it’s an illusion of control. I think
that’s what people are trying to hold onto right now.”
People want ultimate control and when it
is missing, they panic. They become irrational. They lose a sense of peace.
King David in the Old Testament lived a life that was many times out of
control. He faced attacking beasts, King Saul who was bent on his destruction,
life on the run in the wilderness from attacking forces, national rebellion led
by his beloved son, and many other hardships that would create insecurities in
any human. What was his response? He created a theme song that is recorded in 2
Samuel 22 (worth reading the entire chapter). This song later became part of
the Old Testament hymn book, Psalm 18. He looks at his life and he reflects on
how the Lord has worked in the out of control times he faced. Most impressive
is the way he sings about what he has learned about God. He starts his theme
song singing, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my
rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold, and my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence.” He then gives
a glorious statement of resolve singing, “I will call upon the Lord, who is
worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.” David’s life has
shaken him. David’s God has comforted him.
We need more than a security blanket in an
uncertain world. We need a rock of stability. David discovered that security.
May his discovery be one that we make. Our God is better than a blanket, or a
bunny, or any material item we can embrace. I am glad, “My God lightens the
darkness” (22:29).
