The world’s security blankets
Conformity to the culture can be dangerous if it is hostile to, or refuses to acknowledge or protect the inherent worth and dignity of the individual human person.
It says as much in the Preamble of the United States’ Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The world offers various “security blankets”–things or ideas that provide a sense of control and comfort–in exchange for our allegiance to them.
The measure of our security lies where we place our worth.
What do we lean on to make us feel secure?
Is it our job, family, exercise regimen, body image, the pleasures of food and drink, social status, our productivity, sports, relationships, children, the influence we have in our churches and communities?
Cowardly conduct
The problem is, the world’s offerings of security produce in us cowardly conduct.
We fear the loss of what we hold so dear, and act accordingly out of fear when it is threatened.
From cowardly to courageous
Conversely, ridding ourselves of the culture’s illusory security blankets can also be dangerous, which is why we need courage through the Christian virtue of fortitude.
How do we get this fortitude? By coming to the knowledge of Christ, and by focusing on our heavenly reward.
Pope St. Cyprian (c. 200-258 AD) wrote of this beautifully:
“The spirit of a strong and stable character strengthened by meditation endures; this unshaken spirit, which is strengthened by a certain and solid faith in the future will be enlivened against all the terrors of the devil and threats of this world. During persecution the earth is closed off from us, but heaven lies open; the Antichrist threatens, but Christ protects us; death is brought on, but eternal life follows. … These are the thoughts you must grasp with your heart and mind and reflect on day and night.”
Self-worth
The truth is, our self-worth cannot be sustained by anything in this world because we, as persons, do not belong to this world.
As Christians, we are defined by our Baptism, because it was instituted by God as a means to rescue us from the power of the Prince of this world (John 14:30), claiming us as a child of God with the seal of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1265).
Baptism is not our work, but God’s outward sign of grace, adopting us as His children, making us each priest, prophet and king (CCC 1241).
Why would we depend on anything else?
What else could define us?
St. Callistus (death c. 222 AD), pope and martyr, pray for us.
Sources:
The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed., http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm.
“Treatise by St. Cyprian,” Divine Office Breviary, Liturgy of the Hours, [bold type added], October 14, 2022, https://www.universalis.com/-400/readings.1.htm.