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Sirach 9:13. "Keep far from a man who has the power to kill, and you will not be worried by the fear of death. But if you approach him, make no misstep, lest he rob you of your life. Know that you are walking in the midst of snares, and that you are going about on the city battlements."

 

I so wish I had read the Bible a long time ago! For most of my life, until quite recently, I did not realize that I walked in the midst of snares. I did not see the dangers around me, I was naive.

 

Sirach here is warning against bodily harm and death, but his words have a deeper meaning, too. We can read them as a caution to be wary of the dangers to our eternal life. Jesus told us not to fear those who can take our lives, but rather "him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Of course, we should not be reckless with our lives, we should never intentionally provoke those with the power to take it (and, pushed far enough, practically everyone has the power to take our lives, so we should not unnecessarily provoke anyone).

 

However, avoiding those tasked with deciding whether we live or die in this life is very good advice. It means we won't do anything to bring ourselves into the ambit of that power, like commit a crime that carries the possible sentence of capital punishment. But sometimes, as we see in the lives of many saints and martyrs, we find ourselves before such people anyway, or we are thrown into necessary interaction with them. It is these moments that Jesus was talking about when He said not to fear for our physical bodies but for our souls. In such circumstances, we might have to choose whether to protect our lives or to stand by the truth. Jesus wants us to choose the latter, He wants us to choose eternal life over earthly life.

 

We should nonetheless try to avoid putting ourselves in situations in which our lives may be jeopardized. Our lives are important, we have a mission, and while God may lead us to moments when our lives are in danger yet we still have to choose to do the right thing, He does not want us to put ourselves in these situations unnecessarily. Further, we must give up any naivety about the world, as I have had to do. We are on the battlements, and we are at war. The "wickedness and snares of the devil" are all around us, and for us it is very difficult to see evil (Surrender Novena Day 7).

 

It is a very narrow path we have to walk. We must be aware that there is danger, but not let that awareness frighten us into inaction; we must speak the truth, but not as an intentional provocation; we must patrol the battlements, defending them as necessary, even if it costs us our lives, but not go on the offensive out of our own pride or vanity. It is quite a tall order and none of it would be possible to do without God's grace!