Security

This morning I found myself pondering the meaning of security. It's an interesting word.

Security can be had in many different ways. There is security of your surroundings, such as when you're locked up in your home. You feel safe because no one can harm you.

There is security in a crowd, perhaps. With many people around, you might feel safe because you are not alone. Someone else, though, might not feel so secure because there are so many people around. Depends on the crowd and your frame of mind, I guess.

Maybe you need to see a policeman in the crowd to feel secure. I think some people would like it if the army patrolled the lands - that might make them feel secure, although it would make me feel afraid.

That brings us to national security, doesn't it. Apparently many people are willing to lose their freedoms in order to feel that they are secure when they fly or otherwise move about. These folks applaud when their pocketbooks are searched at the civic center, when teenagers are stopped and questioned simply because they look suspicious, or when someone who is "other" is profiled on the highway. I guess these people think the bad guys are everywhere and you're guilty until proven otherwise. Our last president established an office of Homeland Security to keep the "mother land" safe. That kind of talk gives me the willies but apparently it makes other people feel more secure.

There is financial security that might come from knowing you have $20 in your pocket - or having $20 million in the bank (don't know the feeling of that one). If you don't feel financially secure, and these days I don't know many people who do, then I suspect you feel quite anxious much of the time. Securities are also things one might purchase in the financial world, a type of investment policy, maybe something like a life insurance policy. Social Security is a program that was put in place to keep people who are older or who might be a little different from the norm from eating dogfood and sleeping in a box under the overpass. Some people don't like for others to have this type of security.

Computer security might come from having a good virus program. Or maybe never plugging the thing into the Internet. That would certainly work!

It important to keep all of your personal data safe these days - it must be secure so that no one can steal your identity or get into your accounts and abscam with your money. This can be kind of tough in a world where evildoers are always trying to hack into things.

Job security, I think, is a thing of the past. Historically, a person could obtain a decent job that they did well and liked, and stay at it for 30 years. Now, people move from place to place and no job is secure. Companies let people go for no reason at all. Just like that, you're out the door.

You might feel secure in your love for your spouse and children, or your god. That might bring a feeling of spiritual security, which I think is something one might strive for. Maybe that is all love security? Perhaps if we have this we don't need the other kinds of security.

I wonder how many people feel secure these days in all parts of their lives. I am betting not too many. How about you? Are you secure, or is there something lacking in some parts of your life?