Fortresses that we build...

Traveling, I came across this fort. Well-built, for the defense of the Kingdom of yesteryears, this would serve as a stronghold for the King and his team. “A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region  during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").'

We have moved away from such stone age structures. Now it's more drones and barbed wires, not just against enemies, but also against those who ask uncomfortable questions. To keep unwanted brothers and sisters at bay.

But then there are others who do not have the power or resources to build forts. Those protecting themselves from the powerful who want to take over their land, for economic interests, must find other ways to protect themselves and their land. We see this in different parts of the world including some parts of our own nation. 

Protecting one's own possessions and positions at any cost is part of human nature, and larger events around us are part of the innate human instinct of self-preservation and protection, at any cost.

This has now extended to virtual spaces where we spend much time. To protect our machines and data from hackers and unwanted elements, we come up with virtual defenders, spyware, ad blockers, etc.

But even our personal spaces, both internal and external, are protected. Our hearts and inner lives are kept carefully locked away because we do not want others to see who we really are inside. We open our physical spaces with caution because we do not know whom we can trust. From a trusting open vulnerable community, we have become self-defensive, protective, and self preserving communities.

This was happening all around us, with the strong rhetoric of the powers that be, who wants the powerful to be protected. And we were (I was)  busy like the Meercat, trying to build tunnels to protect ourselves (myself) from the hyenas.

Today I came across this reading: "He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges.”

I am supposed to follow this example, but the problem is “Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.” 

I find it easier to preserve self than to be selfless and be poured out!