TRANSCRIPT
At the core of every human being is the desire to feel and be safe. It’s not to be loved, at least on its own. It’s to be safe, to be protected. Those are by-products of love, what love ultimately leads to.
Providing safety — is there any better way to describe authentic masculinity? The entire patriarchy, in fact, is centered on this very notion. Loving men sacrifice for the safety and security of those around them. But to focus on the issue of being safe, when a human being (or even a pet) believes rightly or wrongly that he is not safe, all hell breaks loose.
People go off the rails — angry, confused, self-doubting, developing feelings and thoughts of not being able to be loved or cared for. In short, the diabolical moves in for the kill. The spiritual and emotional pump is primed for a demonic takeover of the person. This is not necessarily a physical possession but an operational control of the person.
Knowing you are safe is the absolute bottom root desire of every human being. And, again, it’s so basic that even our dogs and cats revolve their relationships with us around that.
So what is “safe”? In sum, it means you can never be harmed, hurt or unaccepted. Safety is summed up in Scripture in one of the most beautiful ways (it’s one of my personal favorites) in the reference from St. John’s Apocalypse, “And I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. And there will be no more mourning or pain, for the old order has passed away.”
Our Lord tells us that unless we become like little children, we cannot see the kingdom of Heaven. So picture it — there we are, each of us, as little children again, little children sitting in our Dad’s lap as He wipes away all our tears and we feel completely and totally safe. And here’s the point: We’ll feel that way because we will be that way.
When I was a little boy of about 2, my dad and the family were stationed at a U.S. Air Force base just outside Paris in Chambley. There were lots of little back roads through cow pastures and hedgerows. My dad would take me out and put me on his lap and let me steer, or at least let me think I was steering, and he operated the clutch and pedals obviously.
He would say to me, “Look at the moo-moos,” and I was in Heaven. Talk about completely safe. A couple of years later, when we were back in England, my grandad would grab me and my brother by the hand right after Mass and take us to Wigan Park to feed the ducks. No one in the family was allowed to come near us. That was his sweet grandad time with us, and he sat us on the grass next to him and always brought a little bag of crusts for the ducks.
As Our Lord said to His followers, if you who are wicked know how to provide for those you love, how much more will your Heavenly Father provide for you? My dad and my grandad were not even close to wicked, and those moments are hard for me to imagine ever being surpassed as far as being safe.
Why does even the most hardened heart melt at the sight of little children happily and joyfully playing and smiling and being happy? Because we know and, at those moments, plug into the reality, that that is our eternal destiny.
This is what Satan and his demons want to deprive you of. They hate you with a hate, an enmity, beyond all possibility of comprehension.
Fight them. Fight them everywhere you encounter them. Even if they get the best of you every now and then, never forget Who and what you were created for.
