“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress.” (Psalm 62:1)
Every American is invited to share the experience of the Pilgrims on Thanksgiving Day, albeit vicariously. We recount the fears and tests of faith for those hearty voyagers crossing the Atlantic Ocean in their frail ships, enduring the traumas and perils, celebrating the arrival on dry land and the symbol of their firmness of purpose and trust in God on Plymouth Rock. The Thanksgiving Day dinner is a secular American version of what the Passover Meal is to every Jewish family: A reminder that they are what they were. People of an event brought about by a God Who cares for them and Who led them from one stage of existence to another in order to give them a fresh new beginning.
What is left unspoken is that the Pilgrims, like the Jews, have an exclusive concept of God’s protection. An American left to the Pilgrim’s intentions would have no place for Orthodox Christians, nor any other form of worship other than their own. Freedom for all faiths was a concept that outweighed the insular vision of the early Puritan colonists in this land.
Traveling “from sea to shining sea” across America, we discover on the other coast another rock. Alcatraz Island is a symbol of freedom’s limitations; indeed, it is the very opposite of freedom, once the place where hardened criminals were cut off from society, having abused the basic freedoms this nation cherishes. Only by imprisonment of convicted criminals are the lovers of peace free to live without fear.
Plymouth Rock then, is a symbol of hope, a sign that one form of life in the Old World is ended, and another life can be had. Alcatraz Rock is a symbol of justice without which no society can long provide peace and order to its inhabitants. America has oscillated between the two concepts: Freedom as the ideal, justice at its foundation. At times the cry was for mercy and tolerance to all criminals, even to the murderers; presently, the mood of the country has swung to intolerance and the death penalty. Neither attitude will provide ultimate security.
Those who trust in the Lord will never be disappointed. We must empathize with the aged and the weak, especially in large urban centers, who cannot sleep in security without securing their doors and windows with multi-lock devices or keeping large dogs for protection. To live in a constant state of fear is a sad indictment of our society, which with every good intention to protect the rights of individuals appears to lean to the rights of the lawbreakers at the expense of the timid, cowed, “good citizens.”
The Church, therefore, must stand for justice and freedom from fear and intimidation, while simultaneously declaring the spiritual truth that those who keep their feet firmly on the living Rock who is Jesus Christ need never fear. It is not America as wonderful as it is that provides ultimate protection, but the Savior of humanity. Not the locks or a security system on my house, apartment, or condo will guarantee me protection; only the Lord, who is my Fortress. With Him beside me I fear nothing.