On Security and Other Matters

A friend of mine complained the other day because his dad wouldn't let him leave the house during Christmas period for fear of bomb threats around the city of Jakarta. My friend is 25 years old. He thought that his dad was being rather ridiculous but stayed home anyway because a verbal brawl would ruined the festive spirit in the air.

Another friend cancelled their second honeymoon plan in Bali after the second Bali bombing. She used to think that nobody would bother to bomb the same place twice. They've done it there before, why would they do it there again? Wrong. Now what people say is, "They've bombed Bali twice, what would stop them from doing it the third time?"

Today we are faced with new challenges in living. We not only worry about what we are going to eat, what we are going to wear, what work we are going to do, but we also worry about terrorist attack, kidnapping, bombing, riots and other security related issues. It is as if life is not difficult enough. Fear is in.

Giving in to fear is not the answer. As trendy as it is, fear looks very ugly. Courage should replace fear as the new trend in living. It means living day by day to the most. It means more caution and not taking things for granted. It means living knowing that anytime, things that are dear to us can vanished. Nothing is eternal.

As Hellen Keller said, "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature no do children as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate, is strength undefeatable." (Let Us Have Faith, 1940).