As I prepare for summer travels, I have been surprised by the number of people who ask me if I am afraid to travel alone. Just yesterday I was talking to a friend who listed all the dangers of one of the places I will visit. And last week someone wanted to discuss weapon options.
I travel a lot, and I consider myself to be careful. I don’t take unnecessary chances or tempt fate. I try not to look like a victim. And it is my fundamental belief that people are good, and that violence begets violence.
I used to run a homeless shelter in Chicago in my younger days. I have been threatened in multiple ways, I have been in many dangerous situations. I can think of 3 times that I was actually hurt, and in each of those circumstances, I used violence. I might have had a superior attitude, I might have not been as kind as I could have been, I might have threatened to call the police. I was never physically violent but I was using my power to try to control someone. And that rarely turns out well.
The times when I was compassionate, the times when I tried to give someone what they needed or wanted, the times when I de-escalated a situation, those were the happy endings, and they were by far the rule rather than the exception. I did not display fear, and I offered kindness, and that takes care of a lot.
Now does it always work? No. Are there “bad” people out there? Yes. I watch crime shows and the news. I know that the world is a dangerous place. I also know I don’t have the strength to win a physical altercation and that if I started wielding a weapon I would probably end up hurting myself.
For me the most practical answer to safety is to believe that the person standing in front of me, in this moment, is good, and if I call upon that, if I believe that, I will be OK. The power of love overcomes evil. The power of goodness overcomes the bad. I have lived this, and I know it is true.
So pray for me that I have safe travels, and that I might find the good, find Christ, in all people.