My parents have commented in various conversations that their doors were never locked when they were growing up and they were able to go and do wherever and whenever they wanted because they were “safe.” I’ve obviously grown up locking my doors, keeping track of my belongings, and holding on to my personal space.
Multiply that by at least seven and you have Africa.
I have never seen more fences in my entire life. Everything is a compound. Everything is locked up. Everyone gets rid of things “hanging” on the outside of bags. Everyone constantly watches their backs. Everyone encloses their house in a fence or other strong barrier (usually stone with barbed wire on top).
Joburg has one of the highest crime rates in the world, but things don’t look any different in Zimbabwe besides the addition of a few gorgeous mountains, so what's the fuss, right?
Fences are erected when trust is damaged or wrecked. They protect those things that are most valuable to us or, in some cases, those things that stimulate the most fear within us.
Jewish people created fences around the Torah laws because they were scared to death of breaking them and spending eternity in the face of an angry God.
Zimbabweans and SAfricans have raised fences around their homes – the places in which they find the most safety.
There were fences placed around Holocaust training camps.
There are fences around jails and prisons.
China built the Great Wall (not exactly a fence, but bear with me) to fortify their country – their belongings.
We put fences around our hearts us because someone or something that has no power has threatened it at one time or another and refuse to trust a God that has continually proven His love, loyalty, and reliability to us.
