I live in Tshwane, South Africa and my husband is currently working in the UK. The two of us may be worlds apart at the moment, but the psyche of the cultures we’re living in, is almost identical. In both hemispheres, we’re grappling with a palpable sense of fear.
With the UK voting on whether to leave Europe or not, both the “in” and “out” campaign are playing to some of our deepest fears. The “in” campaign claims that leaving the EU would spiral the UK into another deep recession, while the “out” campaign downplays the possible financial fallout and rather focuses on the seemingly unstoppable influx of immigrants into a country that’s already under tremendous strain.
On Tuesday this week, residents of Tshwane were left reeling as the city came under siege with violent protests breaking out across three of the biggest townships in the capital. Protesters claimed they were unhappy with the proposed candidate for mayor of Tshwane. By lunchtime an eerie silence had settled over the usually vibrant centre of town as shops closed their doors early and people fled out of fear.
As I drove home with my children after school, I saw queues of people snake down roads and around corners, all desperate to get a seat in a taxi or on a bus. It was early afternoon and the roads were jam-packed. Panic had set in and everyone was fleeing the city. They all wanted to get home, to safety.
Although air travel made the world smaller for a while, in recent years, with the threat of terrorism, genocide, and war, many countries have started closing ranks in the hope of keeping the undesirables out.
I don’t have a solution to migration, but I do know that fear cripples societies and the only way to counteract it, is through faith.
Faith in who we are as essentially human – created by God. Faith in our ability to be kind and generous to each other, regardless of culture, religion, or nationality. Faith in our ability to see each individual as we would hope they would see us.
Martin Luther King Jr. (minister and activist) once said, “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there.”
When all around you fills you with fear, close your eyes and have faith. The Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 1:1).