Opus 2014-187: Bug out or bug in?

On my other blog, Perpetual Proverbs, I try to avoid politics and cultural issues.  So when I come across something in the Bible that stirs my mind in those directions I bring it over to Medley of Worship.  As I was reading in Proverbs I came across this verse that made me think of those who are concerned with being prepared for potential disasters. 

(Proverbs 27:10 NAS77)  Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend, And do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

Whether it is a minor issue like loss of power or a major issue like the breakdown of all civil order, one of the big questions people ask is, “Should I stay put and try to make it through or should I run to seek safety?”  In psychology it might be called, “fight or flight”.   This verse seems to give advice for those times.  Proverbs calls them “days of calamity.”

The advice here seems to be stay close to home and work with your neighbors.  Don’t try to make a long, dangerous trip to a distant relative.  That is obviously open to interpretation.  It would also depend on how far away relatives are.

“Days of calamity” are not a modern phenomena.  Barbarians, drought, famine, pestilence, locusts and economic collapse have been around a long time.

Get ready.

homo unius libri