Anger

Sigh.

Here we are a week after the election.  People are still stunned at the outcome.  People are still puzzled how the two leading candidates were both so seriously flawed in character.  On the one side, we had a candidate who often said things rude, insulting, and inappropriate.  On the other side we had a candidate who, as it turns out from leaked documents, was complicit in rigging the primary elections, cheated in the debates by getting questions ahead of time, and lies about the lies they have told.  Those on the winning side voted because they were fed up with being referred to as "flyover country," while those on the losing side are grasping at anything and everything, including the hope that when the Electoral College meets to make the results official, enough of them (that would have to be at least 37 of them) will switch their vote to give it to Clinton.   It's wishful thinking and it has been rumored since George Bush's first term, with the contested Florida outcome.   Those on the losing side are calling the winning side stupid (and this after they were referred to as deplorable, irredeemable, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and the list goes on...).  Rumors abound of those who are truly acting racist and hateful in targeting minorities for harassment, assuming this is what Trump stands for  (sadly, conflicting reports on many of these cast doubt on which ones are accurate and which ones are not).  All the while those who supported Clinton are rioting, burning, looting, and assaulting those who are either identified as or at least suspected of being Trump voters.  Correction on that:  At least in one city (though I suspect it's true across the nation), over 70% of those arrested in these protests didn't even vote.  And of the protesters, many are being bused in and/or paid to protest, responding to ads on Craiglist and other places.  Sadly, these as well have conflicting reports in the media so it is difficult to know fact from fiction.  And speaking of the mainstream media, which got all the prediction polls wrong, and which even by their own admission was now horribly slanted toward the democratic candidate, what little credibility they had on unbiased reporting has now vanished with the majority of Americans.  To top it off, people share things without ever bothering to check their truthfulness, and there are a lot of fraudulant "clickbait" sites out there these days.  I've just provided a whole bunch of sites that you even need to check me on, because the internet is such a cesspool of deception and lies!  To quote the article linked just above:  "folks are being fed what they want to hear and they’re eating it up like a starving person. The most important thing in a functional society is a well-informed public. What we have now is not only uninformed but misinformed masses. That’s something that should scare us all."

And then there are those who are so upset they need cry rooms, therapy puppies, coloring books, and the like.  We have a cry room here at church.  It's for infants.  And all of the hate, and all of the anger, and all of the division (of which our soon to be former commander-in-chief created and furthered much of it) is getting old, and is threatening to destroy this country from within.  This is to say nothing of the hatred spewing from social media, including many liberal elements either wishing for or directly calling for assassination (which is a federal crime, by the way, to even suggest such a thing).

It is rather funny in a pathetic sort of way, really.  I mean, the same conditions existed in 2008, except that in this instance, it was the liberal, progressive candidate Barack Obama who won the election.  Do you remember when all of the conservatives then rioted, began burning flags and buildings, and beating up liberals?  Neither do I.  And yet today, it is those who claim to be the most tolerant and inclusive bunch who unfriend people on social media all because they voted differently (hatred and anger), one day claimed that "love trumps hate" and the next day demonstrating that they really didn't believe that by their anger and hatred in looting and destroying property and livelihoods, and refuse to accept the election that was the clearest margin of victory in recent history.  (and no, I'm not going to debate the electoral college here as it, like our system of governance, provides checks and balances and distributes the power of the people in an effort to be the most equitable).  How do we overcome this great divide?  It's not with giving free reign to any anger felt on either side.

Now I will say that for me to be saying such things might seem odd to some of you, as I've dealt with anger management issues often in my own life.  But yet the difference is in recognizing it, and seeking to overcome it:  to live in accordance with the Proverbs that identify anger being the fire in which we burn, to paraphrase the consequences of anger.  Specifically, the proverb quoted in the banner photo:  "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but the wise man keeps himself under control."  If love really does trump hate (and it does), then it would seem the place to begin is there:  to put aside anger and thereby stop playing the fool.  Of course it is easier said than done, as too often, we believe our anger to be righteous and thereby justified.  But no angry outburst or display has authority to destroy other's livelihood or person.

What is the answer?  Can the increasing divide in this country be healed before it comes to another civil war?  Of that, I am uncertain.  What I am certain of, however, is that the love of Christ has sustained this country in the past, as well as directed it in a unified path.  Yes, sometimes that path went into dark territory, and this nation has many sins to confess from it's past.  Yet the strength of any nation is its' willingness to recognize those sins and seek to correct them in the future.  One of our greatest sins today is not the a-morality, the vulgarity, the perverted and deviant behaviors celebrated as normal, but rather simply that we have, collectively, turned our backs on God.  Psalm 33 says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.  From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth...No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.  A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.  But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love..."  (Psalm 33:12-18).

So don't be foolish and let anger be the fire in which you burn.  Be wise and thereby live to put an end to hate and division, in letting love triumph, despite the flaws that we all have in our character.  Make America great by putting God at the center of our lives.  These are my thoughts today.  Thanks for reading.