Xenophobia

I have a file on my laptop I named “seeds.”  When I have an idea or run across something that captures my attention, I will usually quickly hide the thought or cut and paste it into a new document, give it a title and file it in “seeds.” Sometime later, when in need of inspiration, or entertainment, I go through the file searching for any seed that may have sprouted.

The one I found today was “xenophobia.” I almost chose the seed, “Yooper.” Yooper has great potential but is not quite ready for transplanting to the garden.

I am not sure where I ran across the word “xenophobia,” but it was probably one of Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day.” Here is their definition: “Noun, zen-uh-FOH-bee-uh, Definition: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything strange or foreign.”

From its pronunciation, I assumed the word had something to do with folks out in California who stood on one foot staring out into the universe, trying to reach a higher, or lower, state of enlightenment.  Not many folks in Robertson County, where I live, get their altered state of “enlightenment” that way; usually, theirs comes by consuming “firewater.”  Or by skipping the water and sticking with the fire, i.e., reaching Zen by chemical infusion.

I was wrong.  There is no connection.  While “Zen” came to us by way of Japan, “Xen” came by way of the ancient Greeks. “Xenos” can be translated as “stranger” or even “guest.” You already know about the Greek word “phobia,” as in “arachnophobia.” My wife, Jan, suffers from that. Perhaps I am the one who suffers because when she sees a spider, I’m notified by a screeching command to go her and eradicate the little eight-legged demon.

If you have xenophobia, you are afraid of strangers.  Strangers are, to you, strange.  Anything strange cannot and should not be trusted.  Only the familiar is worthy of trust. That is a lesson we teach our little ones while teaching them to obey our command to “stop.” It is for their protection.

Xenophobia is not a bad thing, but it can be. It is actually a valuable tool for navigating humanity safely.  But it must become a helpful tool, not a defensive weapon.  When we fear a person who is different from us, there is a natural reaction for caution.  That caution is there to help us learn more about what is “strange” to us. Just because something, or someone, is strange to us does not mean they are a threat to us or our beliefs. Eliminating spiders because we are afraid of them may be reasonable, but eliminating a person’s value because they are “strange” to us and make us feel vulnerable is not at all acceptable.

Spiders were not created in God’s image.  Humans were.  Each human should be treated as God would treat them, as He treats them in Jesus Christ.  That does not mean we will agree with their agendas or preferences.  Nor does it mean we throw caution to the wind.  But it does mean we who are Christians have no ground for the segregation of God’s love from any person.  We may be segregated by them because they also suffer from xenophobia.  That is what happened to Jesus.  Some judged him as “strange,” therefore needing to be brought under their supervision or eliminated altogether. The world still considers Jesus and those who closely follow him as “strange.” But from God’s perspective, people who dismiss Jesus are “strange(rs).” This is an excellent place to remind ourselves to be confident of this; every Kingdom crucifixion will be followed by a Kingdom resurrection.

So, fear God, not man, whether stranger or familiar!

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,

but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Proverbs 29:25 CSB

Photo – Taken last spring on Long Hollow road.  It won’t be long before it happens again!