I went to leave a package at a friend's house in a neighbouring village during the summer. The front door was open, the television was blaring in the living room and competing with the radio for top dog. I rang the doorbell several times, banged on the front door knocker, peered into the kitchen and eventually left the parcel lying on the front porch mat with all the other post that had been left. Several days later I discovered that the family in question were 'down the town' having breakfast in the local cafe and that leaving their house open to the public was a regular occurrence. To be honest, I shouldn't have been surprised for the only thing that had changed over the years was time itself and there are many who still live like it was back in the fifties and sixties when trust was something to be expected not excepted. I suppose I would have regularly left my bike lying out in the yard, in full view of all passers by and never ever put away the football after I was finished having a kick about. Dad never locked the car in those days and fully expected it to be there next morning and you happily have parked at the local shop for half an hour, left the keys in the car and returned to find everything as expected. I suppose the only time when anything unusual and maybe slightly irritating happened would have been Hallowe'en night, when a few 'scoundrels' from the vicinity might have removed a few gates from fields or driveways and hidden the articles behind hedges, but no offence was ever meant and non was ever taken. And every weekend, mum left out the money for the milkman, in a little purse inside the milk crate and even though it was there all night and maybe late into the next morning, not a penny was ever taken. Indeed there was no risk involved in so many things. I could quite happily ride the bike home from school, we could play in the fields nearby, walk alone along the lanes and even talk to strangers.
Last week I was refreshing my child protection training for school and that really brought it home to me just how much times have changed and how different life now is for children growing up. I always think of that Done Henley hit, 'The End of the Innocence' at such times and while the song itself deals with the devastation of a family breakup there is a truth in the title which applies so much to our modern world where innocence is no longer always synonymous with childhood or indeed those living in our street. And so we are faced with needing to protect not only our own children but to be ready to suspect those who may put their own offspring at risk by their actions. And today, as I read the United Nations Convention on Children's Rights, I was again firmly reminded the duty on every parent and those in contact with the young to ensure that those rights are protected and that every child has the right to life in all its fullness that I have had.
But it's not just children who need protection. Few days would pass that most of us do not think of protection in some area of our lives. We have computers from viruses, bank accounts and credit cards protected from fraud by passwords and PIN numbers, though there are those who make it their business to unlock this protection. Most of us lock the front door, maybe with more than one lock, have windows fastened with some form of protection, few cars do not have active alarms and flashing lights and house alarms are almost as common as satellite dishes. Our children are strongly advised to protect their heads when riding a bicycle but I doubt if any of them went any faster than I did, with no head covering, except the occasional soft cap. We protect ourselves in the car with all sorts of airbags, impact bars and seat belts and when the sun comes out too strongly, we slap on the Factor 30 to protect our delicate northern European skin from its damaging rays. We vaccinate our children before they can even walk and my son wouldn't think of going to Ecuador next month without a whole range of protecting injections. We protect our future with savings accounts, insurance and pension schemes and if we had to we would protect our homes and families with force. And of course we protect our environment, our wildlife and our ozone layer.
It's a shame then that we don't protect our souls with the same degree of passion, commitment and urgency, even though that's the part of our being that lives on after our earthly bodies have decayed and gone. Jesus says 'What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul.' There is nothing that man can give in exchange for his soul so we need to look after it carefully. The writer of Proverbs records, 'In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them.' Protect your soul today. Better still, leave it in the hands of the One who offers ultimate protection for our souls and ultimate life with Him in Heaven.
