Thought for Today
Genesis 49:6 May I never come into their council; may I not be joined to their company-- for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.
Proverbs 12:16 Fools show their anger at once, but the prudent ignore an insult.
Mark 14:4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, "Why was the ointment wasted in this way?
2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
Again this morning, our morning news was full of stories about shootings. The violence about which I railed yesterday was not a one-and-done event. I wonder, where did this all come from? Is all the violence we see across our nation and around the world indicative of Jesus’ warning, “Mark 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.”? Is this the herald of the Biblical “End of days”? I am not sure which is more frightening, the approach of the end of days, or possibly the realization that there is so much anger, so much rage in our world, that all the violence we see is merely an outward manifestation of our collective emotional upheaval.
“In his 1872 publication The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin theorized that emotions were innate, evolved, and had a functional purpose. While Darwin did not explicitly define these ‘basic emotions,’ it is thought he envisioned a shorter list of essential emotions, including fear, anger, sadness, happiness, and love.” (www.verywellmind.com)
Irrespective of whether or not one is a fan of Darwin, most of us have at one time or another in our lives experienced fear, anger, sadness, happiness and (I hope) love. Are our emotions innate and now evolved? Do they serve a functional purpose? Some of us have heard about or read about the ‘fight or flight’ response. It is posited that all creatures instinctively respond to external threats either by fighting or fleeing. Certainly fear and anger must influence the choice of fighting or fleeing.
Many of us in my generation have noted that our nation (and the world?) is much more divided today than in our youth. Whether we are merely more perceptive of the world around us than we were as children is difficult for me to determine, surrounded as I am by the fear, anger, blind rage and violence that seems reflected in our world. Even in social discourse, in the normal goings on of daily life, I see fear, anger, disrespect for others acted out in countless, small ways. As I listen to political debate and discussion, I see disregard for the opinions and beliefs of others disregarded and debased. There is an element of misogyny and a call to violence to much of our public discourse and debate. In high school, I took a required course in Civics. Today, I see nothing civil in the Civics of our nation.
The Bible addresses fear and anger repeatedly. Jacob’s words in Genesis about 2 of his sons seem almost prophetic about current events, “in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.” Admittedly, no one today is literally hamstringing oxen (?), but there is a lot of anger in our nation and in our world. Maybe more of us, especially our politicians, should read Proverbs.
Are we, as Christians, as citizens of the U.S.A. and of the world becoming like those Paul feared to find in Corinth, full of “quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder”? As I listen to the news, read the newspaper and listen to people talk, I sometimes feel society is primed to explode from all the pent-up anger.
Then I remember those other words of Paul to the Corinthian Christians, “1 Corinthians 13:13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Then I look around me at my family, my family of faith, all of our friends in New England and Texas, and my fears are soothed. I see the expressions of faith, hope and love in our Food Pantry and in all the other outpourings of Christian love all around me. Paul was right, faith, hope and love abide.
Stay safe, find comfort in faith, hope and love, trust God,
Pastor Ray