rzim

-Is there perhaps a distinctively Christian alternative to the atmosphere of fear that is so pervasive and contagious?

i think so. and it looks needful that i find one, or at least work something out. hearing my freshly graduated friends discuss financial management is a hint, i think, of what is to come.

i'm the kind of person who would dump my money in the bank and take it out when needed. but i doubt the world's kind enough to let me off like that, and in any case i'm going to have quite a hefty debt to clear once uni's over.
but that was a digression; uni debts are to be faced and not mused about. so yes. freshly graduated friends who discuss financial management while i sit there and wonder why can't it be simpler.

money makes money, that's one point. the other would be that of insurance. i wonder what would happen if i don't get insurance. cuz i don't intend to.
i suppose there'll be "God" arguments for and against insurance; the human being is somewhat annoyingly desirous to be right, and unfortunately equipped with the intellect for doing so. why do you think arts majors can argue (read: smoke) on both sides of the coin equally convincingly, or gp students encouraged to give a 'balanced' answer. truth is what we make it to be; we'll always have a rationalisation that justifies our actions. insurance is a moot point then.
so yes, while i haven't been exposed to the pressures and demands of the adult society that requires us to be such-and-such (no wonder people instantly age when they enter the workforce), from what i see i don't like it.

i mean, isn't it enough to work out God's kingdom here on earth already, without having to think of oneself? thinking about poverty, selfishness and creation abuse would take up quite a bit of effort already, wouldn't it. but okay, i might be wrong. maybe those adults out there have already worked out and reconciled the fallenness of the world and are seeking to make the kingdom change. phooey to you, i'm not there yet.

it's just. let's not put our cares higher above God's, alright. look, matthew says it fine enough: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these shall be added unto you.

The parable of the talent asks us to see the power and control we allow to masquerade as security and so convince ourselves that we are living wisely, even morally upright, when we are really living in fear. These fears move us to withdraw from the very kingdom Jesus calls us to join and join with him in announcing. Instead of moving further up and farther into the kingdom he proclaimed among us, we dig for our souls a place in the outer darkness.

There is indeed an alternative, but it is neither safe nor easy. It involves laying down our fears to follow Christ with faith’s daring; it involves opening our lives to a world that scares us, and rejecting the anxiety of a world convinced the sky is falling. The Christian alternative to a culture of fear is a kingdom of hospitality and abundance, vulnerability and generosity, love and self-sacrifice—the very kingdom Christ shaped with his living and dying, and invites us to do the same.