Line in the Sand

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

-Psalm 23:4

My senior year of high school, I was obsessed with violent oppositions. By that I mean, good vs. evil--the idea of a cosmic battle between ideologies. I call it an obsession because I was concerned about this for no real purpose--I didn't have faith at the time.

I wrote a poem senior year about this battle between good and evil called Line in the Sand:

Line in the Sand

by John Bang

If life is the art of drawing without an eraser,

Then some grievous typo has repeated itself.

A laughable comedy of languishing in jail

For twenty-seven years facing granite and shale stone.

It’s the distraught mob behind Elizabeth Eckford;

While the crowd turns frenetic, one woman stands stoic,

In the presence of scornful harangues of the masses,

She is dignified to lead the dialogue forward.

Take Tank Man, immortalized in a single photo.

One man faces the barrel of a nation face first—

A moment of youthful brashness but sound discernment:

To define clear and sharp the blurred line of no retreat.

Imprisoned voice that sings the song of equality

Finds medium in an aunt called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The shrilling note of liberty fails to be silent,

Fails to be oppressed in a cage of authority.

Will we know when to draw that weighty line in the sand,

To make concrete a moral conviction of justice,

To set the world right once again by blinding courage,

Like a sun that powers and makes bright the Earth again.

The idea behind the poem is this: while examples of consummate (complete) courage are rare, when they occur, evil cannot help but retreat. Think about the Little Rock Nine. To attend a high school filled with students who wished them harm. Think about Nelson Mandela. To live 27 years on a forsaken island with dreams of justice. About Tank Man, the Chinese man who stood against tanks during the Tiananmen Square riots.

Esther is in a similar situation in Chapter 4. Mordecai puts her on the spot: "Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (v. 14). Finally, she imparts a pocket of wisdom: "If I perish, I perish." (v. 16).

Will we know when to draw that weighty line in the sand?

When we are put on the spot--when we have a choice between making the right or wrong decision--will we know to draw that line in the sand? Will we stand firm? Will we say, "This is evil, and this is good. I refuse to waver. I stand. I stand against evil"?

Where does Esther's power come from? Perhaps it's motivated out of duty. She feels a duty to save Mordecai and his people. Or maybe it is obedience to God and his plan.

If a former Jewish orphan can stand against the most powerful king in the world, what does that say about our potential to stand against the evil things of this world?

Perhaps my message will be alienating to sisters, since courage is usually perceived of as masculine. But Esther disproves this. Women can have courage stronger than that of men if it is from God. God's grace, and correspondingly his courage, is for everyone.

It is truly hard to have courage. It is easy to be fearful in this world. But, as Pastor Dave once mentioned, the most common expression in the Bible is "do not fear" or "do not be afraid."

When we are fearful, how do we have faith? How do we stand with courage? I began by quoting Psalms. I return to the verse to answer the above two questions. God’s rod and staff is with us. The Cross of his Son is with us. The Holy Spirit gives us power. Let us stand.

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).