The best security

WE worry about all kinds of security. And it’s all

understandable. We need them for some peace of mind. We want to have

security from physical harm, security in our job so that we can have

steady source of income, security in some unavoidable conditions like

old age, sickness, etc.

  

            We cannot overemphasize the effort we exert to attain as

much security as possible. And it’s good that we already some

significant structures to provide all these kinds of security.

  

            But we have to remember that the most fundamental and

indispensable security we can and should have is that of maximizing as

much as we can our faith, hope and charity in God and in others. This

is the kind of security that underwrites all the others. Whatever

happens, it’s in our faith, hope and charity that will bring us afloat

to our final and definitive destination.

  

            As St. Paul would put it, “I have learned, in whatever

state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to

abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of

facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in

him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,11-13)

   

            Of course, this fundamental spiritual and supernatural

sense of security should never be made to undermine all the effort we

need to attain the necessary security in the temporal and worldly

sense.

  

            We have to guard ourselves from lapsing into some kind of

superstitious and fideist attitude that precisely relies exclusively

on one’s so-called faith without the corresponding human effort to put

that faith into practice. We qualify the word, faith, with

“so-called,” because a faith treated that way is no faith at all.

  

            This anomaly can happen just as much as that of the other

extreme, when we would just rely solely on our human powers without

any recourse to faith, hope and charity. Yes, it’s true that we should

try our best to be self-reliant, but our self-reliance should not come

at the expense of our absolute dependence on God.

  

            We need both. The perfect balance is when we can truly say

that we depend on God 100% and also depend on ourselves 100%. It’s not

a 50%-50% proposition, nor any combination that divides the 100%

ideal.

  

            Thus, both our spiritual and supernatural life, on one

hand, and our natural life of work and human ingenuity, on the other,

should be at their best state. Everything has to be done to achieve

that ideal.

  

            In the school where I work, this is the thrust I am

pushing with the help of all the other teachers and mentors. The

students have to be trained to be both spiritual and practical. And so

far, my experience has been that the students have a deep stock of

potentials in both the spiritual and the practical.

  

            If dealt with properly, the students correspond well to

the challenges not only in the school but most especially all the

challenges in life in general. They possess a deep sense of security

that is above the ups and downs of earthly life. No matter what

happens, they can afford to be at peace and to be certain of where

they are going.