It occurred to me today that safety shouldn’t be hard to find.
One of my family’s favorite vacations was the trip that we took to Disney in 2016. We talk about it often, when we are in the mood to recollect some of our favorite memories (it’s a game we play, see HERE for the details). One of the smartest things that we did on that vacation was to pay for the Disney PhotoPass; this service allows for a collection of photos to be built during your Disney adventures, as all of the photographers in all of the Disney parks end up linking the pictures that they take of you to an on-line account that becomes a digital photo album. I don’t remember what we paid for it, but it was worth it, whatever the cost.
As I ponder the topic of fear for this post, I am reminded of the photo that was taken of our family at the very top of the Tower of Terror in the Hollywood Studios park at Disney World. That photo, like so many others that were added to our PhotoPass album, is now forever a part of our memories from the trip. My son was twelve at the time, and my twin daughters would have been nine.
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “when the bottom drops out”, it’s meant to describe a situation that goes badly very quickly. We assume that what’s under us is going to be there, and continue to be there, because we operate under the assumption that it’s normally the case that we have something under us. And it’s because we are largely unaccustomed to the feeling of having things beneath us suddenly disappear, that the feeling of it, when it happens, is particularly frightening.
I just so happen to have a picture of what that fear looks like on the faces of all of the members of my family –> how cool is that?!?!
In the instant of fear, we seek safety as part of a natural fight-or-flight response that is built into our nervous systems. That photo, from the top of the Tower of Terror, shows my son, next to me, wrapped around my arm and clinging tightly, in the moment of his deepest fright.
It’s not that I did anything to make this all go away for him. To be completely honest, I was significantly terrified, as well. But, I am strong (sometimes) and my son came to me because he knew my strength. For him, there was a bit of safety in that strength.
It might be a little sick and twisted of me, but I will always have a strange affection for that photo. I don’t like it because of the fear that it captured on the faces of all of my closest loved ones; rather, I love that photo because it showed my son seeking strength and safety from me in his moment of need.
* * *
In the late fall of 2008, my only brother died unexpectedly in a freak accident. That time, those hours and days and weeks, were mostly a blur and I don’t remember a lot of what happened. I do remember very heavily leaning on my wife. My wife, and her strength during that time when I needed someone to lean on so much, was invaluable to me. I can’t imagine how badly that period of my life could have ended up
–where I might have ended up, resulting from that darkness– had it not been for the support that Jennie gave me.
The shock of my brother’s death was the worst part; death is always horrible but I think it might be slightly less so when the death is expected and you have a chance to come to terms with what’s about to happen. We never had that chance –> we literally were caught entirely off-guard.
But, Jennie was there for my mother and father, and even my brother’s widow as well, as she recognized that the four of us desperately needed to have someone to be strong for us. In fact, she sacrificed how she was feeling and the grief that she was dealing with, in exchange for being the person that each of us was turning to during those dark times.
When a ship is on the ocean and the storms threaten it, the ship would reasonably seek a harbor.
Jennie was our harbor.
* * *
For me, and others like me, we have an even stronger place to go when we feel like the world is crashing in, when we feel like all other hope is lost. Seeking God, and knowing that He is always in control of what is going on in our world, is a great solace.
For example, take this year, thus far.
This year has been unlike any other year before it, for sure, but as upside-down and crazy as this has all seemed, none of it has surprised God. He has remained in control throughout. For those who might wonder about a god who would allow the insanity of 2020 to have taken place, I certainly trust in His plans. He is God and I am not. This doesn’t mean that I’m not afraid of what’s going on; it just means that I’ve got an ultimate place to go to find refuge from my fear.
God can accomplish His purposes through whatever circumstances He sees fit to use, in my life personally, and in the larger scope of my community and the entire world. I can still rest comfortably in His arms, knowing that He is the ultimate place to go for the strength that I seek when I fear or grieve. As nice as it is to have people around us to help us with our fears and our sadness, they will sometimes fail us.
It Occurred To Me Today 