Disarm?

We have an alarm system on our community car. It’s supposed to deter burglars. I wonder about that. Mostly, I think, it embarrasses us by going off by mistake. There’s a little device on the key ring with a button. As we approach the car we’re supposed to push the button. They tell me that “disarms” the car.

“Disarm”…what an interesting word! We use it in a lot of different ways.  We talk about nuclear disarmament and such – the effort to rid the world of deadly weapons. But we also talk about people having a disarming manner about them – a smile or look that’s disarming It’s a way, I suppose, of being defenseless, vulnerable, open… a wonderful quality in a human being, to be disarming, to invite others simply by one’s manner into relationship. Would that all of us could be disarming! Would that the world could be disarmed as easily as a car is, simply by pushing a button on a key ring.

Jesus gave us that power, actually. It was his final gift to us: “Peace, I give to you.” Jesus was a most disarming individual!

Mary Ellen Green, OP

Sinsinawa, WI