Flimsy Security

Habakkuk 2:5-11 (NRSV)

Those who heap up what is not theirs

Moreover, wealth is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves,
and collect all peoples as their own.

Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
"Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!"
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?
Will not your own creditors suddenly rise,
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be booty for them.
Because you have plundered many nations,
all that survive of the peoples shall plunder you
because of human bloodshed, and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.

"Alas for you who get evil gain for your houses,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!"
You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the plaster will respond from the woodwork. 

The last verses of this reading remind me of the gated communities that dot the landscape of the US.  Mansions and McMansions hidden behind iron gates.  I live in such an area and have a house that could easily be called a McMansion.  No gate, but there are things in my daily routine that keep me safely ensconced from seeing the real life that so many other Americans face.  Ones without safety nets or gates or 401Ks.  

Wealth is treacherous.  It keeps us from seeing reality.  It keeps us hidden behind a veil of flimsy security that can easily be taken away, as many learned during the bubble burst of the real estate market.  

So what do we do?  How do we pull that flimsy veil from in front of our eyes so we can see clearly?  So we can stop trusting in nests on high and instead trust in the Lord on High?

It's a daily challenge for those living in my country and in my county specifically.  We need to remind ourselves of that challenge each day so that the real life experienced by those without those safety nets becomes the challenge we don't ignore but instead take on.

Generous God:  You have given this world your bounty.  Help us not to hoard it but to share and share generously so that we can feel the security that only you provide.  Take the veil from our eyes so that we can see the real plight faced by those we don't always see.  Amen.