Security Worship

We are blessed to have a house to live in while in the jungle. The owners are a sweet older couple.  The woman we call Asacha, which means aunt in Shawi and is often used as a sign of respect for elderly women. When we arrived back in Santa Clara after a two-week hiatus, Asacha was sitting in her house.  I have never seen her sit in her house during the day. She is a non-stop, hard working woman of many talents.  She is four foot six, weights 80 pounds and could work me into the ground everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. She works in the fields cultivating and planting, spins cotton into yarn and makes clay bowls by hand and that is when she is not cooking or doing laundry or taking care of the chickens or watching grandkids or… You get the idea. So when I saw here sitting in the house I asked what was wrong and he husband told me she had malaria.

Malaria is a common enough occurrence that unlike my bout with malaria she knew right away what it was and started receiving treatment. Within a couple of days, she was back on her feet and as good as new.

Another day Jennifer was talking with Asacha. Sort of. Asacha does not speak Spanish so we speak to her in broken Shawi or through her daughter as a translator. Jennifer asked how old she was and she said 48. Truth is that 48 is an estimate. Asacha has a younger sister and when we asked how old she was they told us 24, then when Jennifer asked her directly she said 39. That is a big discrepancy so we asked more about it only to find out no one knows her real age. Her ID says she is 24 but she is probably mid 30’s.  It is common among the Shawi to not know a person's actual age.

So Asacha is around 48 years old and for our culture that is young but in the Shawi culture 48 is old. She is one of the older women in the community. She has 5 children and 11 grandchildren.  That is why when Jennifer said that her mom was 63 they were shocked. “Can she still walk?” they asked. They could not believe that she was still alive. Then Jennifer really blew their minds when she said that her grandmother is still alive and almost 90.

It made me think. We live in a culture that values longevity of life. We put a high priority on safety. We want the best healthcare and a fat retirement account. Those things are not in and of themselves bad things. In fact, they are good things. The problem comes when we over-value those things.

We tend to worship security. We look for safe jobs, schools, cars and houses. Usually it is the first thing we evaluate when making a decision. Is it safe? We want our children to be safe. We need good insurance. It is necessary to have a reserve in the bank. Security is our idol.

In the Shawi culture there is no such thing as security. Especially food security. If they have food they eat it all. If someone has a good day fishing and has more fish then he needs, he invites all his friends over and everyone enjoys the feast. Then the next day they go hungry. I don’t understand this part of the culture. But what if friends are more important than food and people are more important than security?

And can anyone really guard their life? I am suddenly reminded of the parable of the rich fool from Luke 12:15-21.  
"Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
Please read it here.

Some people call me crazy for taking my family to live in the jungle because it is dangerous. It is contrary to our protective priority. But what if there is more to life than security? What if storing up earthly treasures is a waste of time? What if taking my family to the jungle is the best thing I can do for them? I have learned a lot from living with the Shawi. Probably the most important thing I have learned is that life is fragile so make the most of it. I would rather live 50 years full of generosity and love then 100 years full of fear and greed.

I hope no one reads this as a criticism of other people. It is more for myself. I would like to be more like the Shawi. I do not want to idolize security. But I fail. I still sleep better knowing we have some canned meat and rice for tomorrow. I still worry that my family gets enough to eat before giving away the extra. I still want a retirement account and good healthcare. I would love to live to the age of 80. But I am praying for God to change me. Relationships are more important than my security. Love is more important than a longevity.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25