-Living in a world of false Security-

“Linus: Look Charlie Brown, you have fears and you have frustrations, am I right? Of course I'm right! So what you need is a blanket like this (holds up blanket) to soak up those fears and frustrations!
Charlie Brown: I don't know. I think most of life's problems are too complicated to be solved with a spiritual blotter!”
The title of this web-log is called “My Security Blanket.” Some of you might have thought the name peculiar or you might have understood a portion of the meaning behind the phrase. No, it is not some cute little line that was created to make people say, “Ah isn’t that nice?” There is a very important message behind that simple yet ever so loaded line. Many of you have seen the Peanuts’ gang or a Charlie Brown flick. Charles M. Schultz created the fun loving and yet ever so important and wise characters many years ago, (The date of their birth slips my mind at this moment). However Mr. Schultz created some amazing characters and certain memorable characteristics that belonged to those characters. In the process of the Characters growth over the years some of those characteristics have stuck close to me and others have faded from memory. (I still remember a former pastor each week would read the latest in the world of Peanuts from the pulpit each Sunday) One character though still sticks with me after all these years though.
Linus Van Pelt has a special place in my memory bank and he has helped me with some of my more philosophical thoughts. Why? Well Schultz chose to use Linus as a “children’s Philosopher” of sorts. Linus tended to bring the extraordinary down to earth. It may have been the amiable side of that little boy that caught our attention. Because when Linus had something to say, everyone listened to him. Remember all those old Peanuts’ flicks? Whenever Linus had a speech or something important to impart to the viewers and the gang? The lights would focus on Linus, the jokes would stop, and everything would get quiet. I still remember the moment in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, when the lights faded and a single spot-light shined on one lone person. The person was Linus, giving his version of the true meaning of Christmas. The little boy had a knack for being humble, terse, blunt and yet captivating the audience and stealing the show. And yet there was that blanket…
The blanket that never went out of his sight and if it did he would sweat, tremble, and moan until it was back in his hands. That blanket was his security. Everything revolved around that blanket, life could not go on without it in his hands. Schultz coined the phrase “security blanket.” The expression has multiple meanings today. We easily create definitions for the popular saying. And yet one thing remains true about a “security blanket,” weather it is life, cars, women, sports, money, or an actual blanket. That blanket demands our thoughts and our attention. Our time and energy revolves around the blanket.
A few years back (about 5) I was trying to come up with a band name. I went through various un-cool metaphors and names for the band. At the time I was doing a twenty-page report for Mrs. Maki’s English class at Faith Bible High School. We had to choose someone from an already defined list of people and write a report on them and the affect they had on our lives and the world. No one on that list seemed to jump out at me and say lets dance for a month and get to know each other. I was really not liking this assignment at the moment. But there was a twist to come. Charles Schultz had recently died and Mrs. Maki added him to the list. Being such a big fan I decided this would be a great moment to get to know the creator of one of my favorite comic strips. For a month I researched, read, watched, ate, and dreamt of Peanuts and their beloved creator. It was over this period of time that my appreciation for Charlie and Snoopy moved aside and my new hero took the place of the latter two. As you can already guess, the hero is Linus. Linus captivated me with his quotes and that silly blanket. Here’s another good quote for ya: “Linus: I guess I talk too much. My mom is mad at me, my grandma is mad at me, everyone is mad at me. Yesterday my grandma drank 32 cups of coffee. I shouldn't have said anything. I suggested that perhaps her drinking 32 cups of coffee was not unlike my need for a security blanket. She didn't like the comparison.”
And that’s when it hit me…That blanket was his security. I thought about this for a while and came up with a few thoughts on the matter. Did I have a “security blanket?” If so what was it or who was it? I began thinking about where I find my security. And my thoughts went from worldly effects, to knowledge, and finally to Christ. We all have our own “security blankets.” Linus had his blanket; Captain Jack Sparrow had his pistol with only one shot, Bugs Bunny had his carrots, and now I had a bigger faith in my God.
That’s right; I realized that my security is found in Christ alone. He is my all and he is my everything. He takes up most of my time and energy and should take all of it. This blanket that I carry with me everywhere and sweat and go into convulsions when I am separated from it is none other than Christ. He is the one who I cannot live without. He is the one that I find complete security in. I listen to him and his commands, I pledge my allegiance to him and him alone. While the rest of the world searches over and over again for something to put their faith into and continually seek security in hopeless affairs; I have complete satisfaction in Christ and the security that he provides me. Check out this verse.
Proverbs 1:33 “But whoever listens to me will have security. He will be safe, with no reason to be afraid.” –The Holy Bible: Today’s English Version”
Okay wow…that blows me away. I have no reason to be afraid or fear safety when I listen to God and put my faith in him. Isn’t that amazing and breathtaking! How mind blowing is that!!! I don’t know about you, but that verse right there compels me to seek security in God alone. He is my “security blanket,” and will remain that way till I die. This world we live in searches for what that verse has to offer, but they do not find it. The wicked ways of this world only lead them further and further away from the true security that they seek. They continually seek and will not find. They have not found what they are looking for. Have you found what you are looking for in this life? How long will we as Christians cling to the ways of this world? Will we maintain the standards that our society sets in place for us? Or will we live on the edge and be found complete in Christ. We a incomplete wandering around this world clinging to what the next movie star and rock star hand feeds us and captivates us to believe. And yet if we were to pick up a Bible we would find so much more depth and truth in the satisfaction and refuge of Christ Jesus.
As you can imagine I wrote my paper on Schultz and made it known that he was the one who had coined the phrase “security blanket,” for the entire world to use and attach to. I also wrote many other things in that paper. Stupid facts that I had picked up from news casts and magazines that really were of no importance or relevance to who Schultz was at the time. I got a fairly good grade; as good as I put in the effort for. (That goes to show how important it is to apply your selves at school and in life.) That report brought a few good things into my life though. Some themes that continue to reoccur in my daily life: I grabbed a major life lesson out of the whole deal, I got a great metaphor to use later on in life, and I got my band name. Wow just like a TV sitcom everything gets wrapped up in the end, or does it?
“What in this life is your security blanket and why is it your security blanket?” No Sunday school answers…
“Linus: I start to feel lonely, then I get scared. Charlie Brown: I thought holding onto that blanket made you secure. Linus: I think the warranty has run out.”