Staying Put in a Culture of Escape

Michael Kelley:

We live in a culture that doesn’t like standing; we live in a culture that likes escaping. People escaping to amusement, fathers escaping responsibility, mothers escaping boredom, employees escaping the daily grind – it’s a culture bent on escape. Through the crowd of those running from responsibility comes the simple call:  

“Stand.”

It’s not a glamorous call, but neither is it a complicated one. It’s a call that is fleshed out in a myriad of ways every single day:

When you don’t want to stay in a marriage that is dissatisfying, stand. 

When it would be easier to simply turn on the TV rather than take an active interest in your children, stand. 

When the preschool needs another worker at church, stand. 

When the jokes and coarse humor are being spouted at work, stand. 

When you don’t want to confront the injustice in the world and instead close the garage door every night, stand.

There will be chances to run today, friends. They will be chances to escape rather than to remain. But today is the day to stand. And a funny thing starts to happen. When you stand in the small ways, instead of escaping, when the attack finally does come in force, you’ll be all the more accustomed to staying put right where you are.

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