Purity: The miss-labled "Bubble"

Most everyone has heard complaints regarding “the bubble.” “It’s too strict,” “it’s too cold,” “it’s too ‘unloving;” the list of dissent goes on. You may know the bubble as – “the grace” bubble. That’s right, the notorious, infamous and dreaded grace bubble. It is the bubble that some spend their entire teenage years attempting to escape. The push and strain against the walls of the bubble, fighting to get out at all cost; get to the outside where their “eyes will be opened.” For some, escape is signaled by a tassel flip. For others, penetration is marked by a series of consecutive “absences” which slowly turn into pattern – after all, if you’ve missed one, you’ve missed them all. I’d have to agree that I was one who fought the “bubble” as well. I had my plans for escape; my meager attempts to disguise the tunnel entrance with “church duties” and “kindly smiles,” all masking the 24 hour digging going on beneath my feet – at times, I even had myself buying the ruse. Once on the outside, reality hits. The outside is suddenly the “cold” place, the barren landscape and vast wilderness. One might easily akin escaping the “bubble” to puncturing the fuselage of an airliner, only after do you realize what a horrible doom you’ve arranged. It is from this outside that you realize the “grace bubble” is in all reality, the “purity bubble.” An instant reversal is then activated, and instead of trying to get out, and get “free” – you are trying to get IN, and safe. It’s not that you were blind while in the “bubble” but the air is filtered, the view is selectable, the image is screened. It is the difference between looking at a wild animal through a conservatories glass window, and having the free choice to stay clear of the danger on the other side. It is foolhardy to desire what waits on the outside of the “bubble.” As we come to the start of a new school year, it is all the more necessary and urgent that we pray for the staff and students at Grace in guiding these ill advised students in their pursuit of the world. The shame aught to be those of us who have run this course when we see students striving for such ill gains and we have failed to pray for them. Pray for the students at Grace to embrace the environment they are in and the training they receive and pray for the teachers who champion for their salvation.