Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDLXXVI

If a person accidentally kills another human being, chances are, he will still have to pay for his actions, even though it was strictly unintentional. Those rules go way back, even to biblical times, but back then, there was a way of escape. Here's an example of what I mean: Let's say a man was chopping down a tree with an ax, and the ax head flew off the handle, striking another man, killing him. A family member of the victim could then legally seek and carry out revenge for the death of his loved one. There was only one thing the man with the ax could do to spare his own life. Certain cities were designated as "Cities of Refuge," and he could flee to one of those cities and be safe, as long as he stayed in that city. As you can imagine, he could never totally relax and rest his mind until he reached that "place of refuge." If he left, he was vulnerable until he was back inside his city of refuge. It was the responsibility of the city leaders to make sure their city lived up to its name and reputation as a place of refuge. If they were neglectful in that duty, as you can imagine, the man who fled there would never be able to get a good night's sleep, or realize any peace of mind. The perpetual stress would likely shorten his life, even if he was never discovered by the victim's family. Hopefully neither you nor I will ever have to deal with the stress that accompanies the accidental killing of another person, but we face stress every time we walk out our doors. Any time we have to deal with the general public, we become vulnerable to conflict, to being cheated, or even being physically harmed, all at the hands of other people. What we need is a "place of refuge." Here's good news: There is such a place. It's called "Home." Unfortunately, too many of us have become neglectful in making sure our homes live up to that standard. We have allowed the stresses of the outside world to follow us right on inside our very homes, compromising the integrity of our only places of refuge. We allow conflict, even with other members of our families, to infiltrate the only place we can go to feel safe. We bring our work home with us, by way of cell phones and computers, causing our peace of mind to become infested with stress bugs, and just so you'll know, stress bugs and peace of mind cannot coexist. As in the old days when the city leaders had the responsibility of seeing to it that their "City of Refuge" lived up to its name, it is the duty of the leaders of our homes to do the same for our places of refuge. We must re-enforce our boundaries. As leader of my home, I now commit to that pledge. Conflict, you are not welcome within these borders. Stress from work, you can just sleep outside my door at night....I'm sure I'll pick you back up as soon as I step outside in the morning. All you other stress bugs, I have a big can of bug spray, and I'll attack you as soon as you creep in. My home is a "City of Refuge," and it's going to stay that way. Preston