Unfortunate Realities...

These are things that we often do not want to have to accept, that make life more difficult even when you know you are living your life to the best of your ability and in the holiest way possible, and what is more sad is that it can occur when you are down on your luck and out of touch with your source of strength. People can always take advantage of you, and while we are on this earth, as we are a fallen race, it will happen again and again. Thus how do we deal with this? Respond to the Bible verse that calls us if asked to give our outer garment to then offer our undergarment as well? Is this truly what God desires of us in all situations? I question this for two very strong reasons that have entered my life reality lately, two distinct events that illustrate our need to be prudent in the way that we follow this call of our Lord.

Take first the attack against the World Trade Centers, the attack against the United States, the attack against freedom. These men took advantage of the freedom that is available to us here in this country to take the lives of close to 3,000 people, and shatter the feel of safety that we once had. Never again will we view Afghanistan in the same way, though it was only a small faction of its inhabitants that perpetrated the massacre, never again will we look at the site of the World Trade Centers because it both reminds us of an incredible loss of life, and inspires us to fight for the value of freedom that we here hold so dearly.

Then look at a situation where a friend offers a place to stay for someone who needs it, and this someone has the presence of mind and the means to offer some form of thanks in return yet never does.

Should the friend be allowed to stay?

Should we have let the terrorist attack slide? Because according to the mass media, it all could have been an illusion anyway. No one really saw the plane hit the Pentagon anyway, there is no footage of it occurring. And what does it mean to see anyway, can we really trust our senses? We cannot have any sort of opinion that God forbid might offend someone, or even worse bring us to conflict with another!

I raise this succession of dialogue somewhat in jest of the media, but mainly for the truth that we cannot always turn the other cheek. As the president said in his speech last night and as I firmly believe, these terrorists will stop at nothing to destroy us. If we were to up and walk away from Iraq, these men would not just go home, they will follow us, as says our commander in chief. We have to draw the line at some point. Some things can be forgiven and life can go on, but in this case it would have been morally wrong not to seek justice for those who committed such a heinous act.

In a similar way we cannot be expected to give and give and give without receiving something in return. Just as the terrorists abused their right to freedom in this country, so does the visitor abuse his privilege of staying by not contributing in some way. Both must be dealt with prudently, mercy plays a part, but if someone does not step up and take the action that needs taken, then those who seek to abuse the freedom we have in this country, and the generosity of others will continue to take and take and take until nothing remains to be taken. Should we always offer our undergarment too? Depending on the situation we must decide each time, always remaining aware that there are those who will take advantage of us if we let them. It is only in fighting back that we help the perpetrators understand how their actions have affected us, and this will lead them to an understanding of the respect that we must all have for one another.