I’ve never spent much time considering walls, fences, barriers of any sort. To be quite honest, unless you are in the business of fence building or ranching I don’t know who does? Most of us would say we rarely take notice of a fence or wall in our daily lives. So why bother writing about them?
This summer our family wandered over to South Africa to visit friends and former China teammates–a long-awaited reunion. As we toured the tip of Africa, I tried to put myself in the mindset of the early navigators who rounded the Cape of Good Hope in search of a way to India. I wanted to envision the sights and feelings they might have experienced or felt as they set foot into this new land. It is unlike any place I’ve been and I can imagine they were taken aback by its vivid colors of teal oceans, red grasses on land crawling with wild creatures like baboons. The treasures I discovered while there were memorable beyond compare. It’s no wonder Dutch settlers eventually moved ashore and ensued inviting others.
I’ve heard someone once say they believed South Africa to be one of the most beautiful countries in all the world, and though I’ve not traveled all the world, I could agree that it is one of the most paradoxical places I’ve visited. The beach views are engulfed by jagged mountains harboring thousands of flora and fauna only indigenous to the tip of Africa— it is breathtaking. While due Northeast are fields of rainbowed grasses and red dirt mines speckled with protected reserves home to lions, antelope, rhinos and more.
Yet amidst all the majesty, a heaviness seemed to steal the joy of fully indulging. As history often depicts, new explorers or visitors venture out into other worlds for reasons of personal gain or domination. Most nations are not immune to a past of settlers, monarchs seeking land and power, the enforcement of bondage on previous dwellers, and savagery in the name of freedom, liberty or survival. The packaging of how early explorers first set out rarely justifies the actions taken that ‘make the way sure’ that then displaces or obliterates another people group. We’d be false to believe our home nations are not at fault for some form of this throughout the course of history. Nations come to exist when dominance is exerted—people turn against each other out of fear, misunderstanding, and protection, resulting in divisions being drawn in our minds and on the land incurring hurts of injustice. Then walls go up, and defenses are made.
That’s when I started thinking about walls and fences.
It was hard not to think about them when I saw them everywhere we went. As we drove throughout the cities and suburbs of South Africa the natural, wild landscape deteriorated amongst the man-made boundaries that barricaded in homes, neighborhoods, businesses, complexes, parks—quite literally every square-foot of livable space. It would be unheard of to own a home without a wall locked in with a gate or security system (of the electronic or scary dog variety.) As I looked at these measures of precaution, meant to bring safety, I could only see them illuminating an undercurrent of fear, distrust, hurt. In America we see the use of fencing as wanting privacy, lining personal property and sometimes protection, but not everyone has them. I’ll be honest, my initial feelings of seeing these dividers were of sadness. I couldn’t imagine living in a place where my safety felt that threatened or I couldn’t run free in my backyard to my neighbor’s house. My heart sank further when I saw these suburban neighborhoods juxtaposed to townships, the impoverished neighborhoods designated for blacks and colored people. Township homes were not brick nor gated. They were merely four walls of corrugated metal with a makeshift roof and hooked up to satellites and electricity. The difference in these communities were that there were no walls between homes except those dividing the two social class neighborhoods.
I must be honest here. The stark differences I saw and the clear lines of division created by humankind in South Africa were glaringly apparent because my eyes were not used to seeing them in my home country— not because we don’t use fences or walls (I am aware we build these same defences in various ways). The frequency and amount of their presence are what awoke my awareness. They revealed to me that the history of South Africa’s struggles and blunders are not hidden, in contrast to ours in America, as an example. The shame of the past and present is clearly out there for all to see. All parties, whites, blacks and coloreds understand the full reality of why they live this way and why the walls exist–I must note, they are not all at peace about this reality either. I do not write this as judgment, but rather as an observation that opened my eyes to our world’s hard realities built over the years. This forced me to wrestle within my heart over the issues of hurt that our world faces and how we should relate with others while seeking reconciliation.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
I believe if we were honest with ourselves, we could look upon our own lives and neighborhoods and find the walls and fences creating barriers—those in existence and those we seem eager to continue building. This need to segregate and separate is not one country’s problem or new to present-day society. It is humankind’s ongoing nature. Rather than learning from past mistakes we further propagate our fears thus breeding more injustice within our hearts, neighborhoods
Walls are meant to protect, fortify and strengthen, to guard something precious. They can still serve this purpose, but let’s take stock. Is this why we build walls today? I say this metaphorically and physically because sometimes walls lose their intended purpose and become fear-based, pride-based, and only protect evil, shame, and pain. They guard what is not holy, peace-making, or loveable. When this occurs, walls are meant to be broken.
I needed to consider the walls in my life, so I asked myself…
- What walls do I build around my heart? Do they foster community and love or segregation and isolation?
- What barriers exist in my community? Fences, gates, locks, security? What am I truly keeping out? How can I be more welcoming?
- What fears do I have that I am protecting? National security fears, racial fears, emotional fears, border fears, trust fears?
- Is there shame, evil, or pain I am guarding? Am I in need of tearing down walls in my life? How can I start?
- What am I really afraid of?
- Where do I need reconciliation with my fellow neighbor, and I don’t mean next door?
Protecting what is sacred is worthy. God often refers to walls and gates when guarding his creation. In fact, as our shepherd, he likens us to his protected sheep within a pen in which he guards. Those who enter without his permission are thieves and robbers with intentions of death (John 10). Walls and fences can be good, but when our walls perpetuate disunity, hate, fear, or reflect deep hurts that keep us from healing and relationships, then we may need to take pause to see God’s heart in the matter. Our creator is a God of unity, love, peace, justice, reconciliation, and salvation among all nations, peoples, and tribes. If we live walled away in fear, how can we open our gate to foster healing in a world marred by pride, domination, greed, and brokenness? If our heart is barbed in wire where can we bring out the wire cutters and find peace and vulnerability in order to be ambassadors of God’s reconciliation? Above all, God desires our hearts to be as one with his and this is what he desires.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15 (NIV)
He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. […] Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals.
Ephesians 2:11-18 (The Message)
Personal note: I do not take the apartheid or the current political atmosphere of South Africa lightly. Like our own nation, there are historical pains that will not be healed overnight. I encourage you to pray for our brothers and sister in South Africa who are committed to reconciliation among racial lines and desire to see a new face of South Africa. This is also a reminder to pray for the United States and all countries facing racial hate and barriers and to live boldly as ambassadors of reconciliation in our communities. God desires us to live as one with his beloved creation, and I trust through his healing grace in our lives, we can be reconciled in unity and peace!
Thank you for being an intentional wanderer with me. If you have been on a path in which God has opened your eyes to a new culture, spiritual truth or insight, would you be willing to share? Remember, I’d love to post your story on along the wandering way so don’t hesitate to reach out and send me your story or photo. If you have a friend who might want to join us, please share this story with them.
