On Security

Relative security, carving out a little island of limited safety in the world, is not evil and is something we should encourage. Saving for a rainy day, cultivating a community of friends, finding work you enjoy that pays the bills, taking care of our children... these are not idolatrous nor is eschewing them altogether some sign of special piety. But what is evil is to mistake relative security for absolute and ultimate security. Holding to those islands too tightly, refusing to see the broad tempests that swirl offshore ready to come in at any moment, these lead to only disillusionment and despair. And mistaking the relative security one creates as some special sign of God's favor or one's worthiness, and making those the conditions upon which one's trust in God is founded, is idolatrous, destructive, and downright sinful.