With Christmas season ahead of us, I know that our lists get longer, and our time and patience at times can grow thinner. Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite stories that reminds me not to go with the flow of the chaos around me, but to choose to be rooted in God's love and allow that to be what flows from me.
When Matt was in Kindergarten I received a call home from a teacher saying that he, and other classmates, had made poor choices in class that day.
When Matt arrived home that day I told him about the call and asked him what happened.
He replied very matter of factly, “There was a classmate who was angry and he pushed the kid next to him. Then that boy passed the anger to the next kid by stomping on his foot and then that person passed the anger to me. Then it was my turn to pass along the anger.” His response made me pause and repeat in my head what he said…
It was my turn to pass along the anger?
I did not condone Matt’s choices that day and shared with him that yes, anger may come our way, or bubble up within us, yet it doesn't mean we have to pass it on. This doesn’t mean we become punching bags for others yet we are called to be slow to anger. Anger is not suppose to be our first response. Yet like the line to students showed that day, passing anger can be easy, and seem normal.
And this isn't just true in their class.
When I broaden the lens, passing anger along is something that we do as adults.
Have we ever had a bad day at work and come home to our family and are short with them?
Have we ever had someone say something to us, and we say something back out of the anger we feel?
Have we ever had something happen to us that made us upset and rather than diffusing the hard emotions, use them as fuel to ‘get back’ at someone?
I think it is in human nature to allow anger to be our fuel. Yet this isn’t God’s plan for us. He calls for us to "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger." (James 1:19)
I am sharing this with you today to invite you to join me to...
pause. breathe. pray.™
May we remember that we are called to be slow to anger and that what we do with our anger matters. Let’s recognize that our initial reaction most likely is more destructive than productive. When anger comes our way, or we experience it within, instead of passing is along, may we instead create space - and invite God in. Let's do this so that we can sift through the anger and choose wisely what to say or do, or what not to say or do.
And like I shared with Matt that day, we can’t control what comes our way but we can control our response to it. So as we move into this week, if we find ourselves getting tense, or tensions arising around us, rather than allowing the tensions to be what fuel us, may we pray that God's truth and love is what fuels us, and flows from us, instead.
With love and hope,
Shawn