Living in a Bubble

9-09am

That’s what I feel I’m doing. This morning, I had more understanding why I’m living in my Bubble. Today, I leaned up close to the thick, translucent fabric to see what the real world looked like. It was bad. No wonder I’m here. I went onto the CNN website and read about ISIS. I didn’t even know what it stood for. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.  Their brutal captivity and then killing of James Foley has made their acronym of Isis a new term, *    known by the world. For a short moment in time, I was carried into life of James Foley and his family. It was excruciatingly painful. No wonder I’m here in my Bubble. I find it difficult to come to terms with the brutality and ugliness that pervades our world. I want to cover my ears & shut my eyes. I don’t want to hear, I don’t want to see the horrific stories of bloodshed and murder. It’s too much for me to bear. After reading it, I feel tainted and sore, bruised and terribly sad. And, I feel helpless. And it is that deep feeling of inability to do anything that drives me back into the centre of my safe bubble. But now that I have seen and read and heard, I feel guilty ignoring it.

This is not a new personality trait of mine. Burying my head comes with being nervous of reality and refusal to accept the truth of life, preferring rather to focus on the good. That was what I did when I was on air as a radio presenter. My policy was that the world was doing such a great job of reporting the bad news, putting dark & fearful thoughts in the minds of listeners, I didn’t need to do it. So I chose to focus on the good. If there was a dreadful front page headline, I lightly glossed over it, softening hard terminology – and offering hope in God in a dark, dark world. Sometimes, I chose to ignore it altogether both personally and professionally. Call me biased? Absolutely! It was my executive producer decision to make the Rise and Shine show positive, also aware that not only did I have adults listening, but a lot of children as well.  I guess after 10 years of purposefully doing that, it became an ingrained habit, well surrounded by a strong Bubble.

The violence of 2014 is not new. Reading the Bible gives you insight into events that are difficult to understand. There was brutality then as well. My response to them is the same as my response to the wickedness of today. It is beyond understanding. There are too many whys. All I can do is remind myself that we live in a fallen world. While there is sin on earth, there will be ugliness and brutality of this magnitude. But there will also be mountains of good, avalanches of kindness, an earthful of beauty and above all a God of justice who, in the end, will have the final say.

And so, I’m staying in my Bubble. I can see what’s going on outside of it. I am mindful of it and prayerful for it. My Bubble has a deeper foundation and a permanent hope. My Bubble cannot be burst by this world. More than two centuries ago, Edward Mote was born. He penned these words:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

With the well known refrain:

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

The fabric of my Bubble is only useful if it is to be stronger than that which this world offers. Let the hope I have in Jesus Christ be the impervious protector of my mind and my life.

I conclude by saying that those who confront the issues, who face them head-on, who report on them daily and bring them to the people’s attention – they too need a Bubble of protection. They need a greater Foundation, a bigger Hope, an eternal Security in order to cope with what they face on the front line. Miraculously, you can be in your Bubble and face the dark stuff.  Ephesians 6:10-18 couldn’t be more applicable…

The Armor of God

“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God,so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvationand the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

We can do this!

And in doing so, we can stay positive, optimistic and happy because we have a greater Hope!

Keep the smile going!

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂

Gratitude Pic…on Sunday afternoon, Julian dragged us to Noordhoek Beach (after the 10km walk in the morning!). I’m so glad he did. It was so beautiful. My favourite pic of the day I took while walking through the lagoon on the way back to the car….

PS. I’ve still got two “Remembering Rhodesia” blogs to come. The next one is on the Oil Refinery Inferno, but I haven’t got to it yet. I hope to have it up next Tuesday.

* Picture of the girl in a bubble is from www.anthologymagazine.com