“Control your anger; it doesn’t help you live the way God
wants. ~ James 1:
20
This day felt wrong from the start. Richard left the office mentally exhausted. He urgently needed to work off tension that’d
been building like heat after a thunderstorm.
A few laps in the pool always sweetened his foul disposition.
At the subway station, Richard cranked his iPod and entered
into semi-consciousness; like an instinct-driven possum. The train arrived late but was full of
passengers; no one got on or off. His
head throbbed; like wearing a hat several sizes too small . . . and getting
smaller. Richard sighed impatiently and
began tapping his foot.
Several trains came and went, so packed that only a small
handful of people could squeeze on at a time.
Richard felt his anger smoldering.
He took a deep breath; the damp air calmed him slightly.
Finally, desperation kicked in; he wouldn’t miss the next
one. He elbowed his way through the
surge of impatient commuters. Absent any
empty seats, he gripped the closest pole as the car jerked forward.
A smelly foul armpit appeared next to his face. At each stop more people squeezed on than got
off. It’s felt (and smelled) like a
sardine can – the BO, hair and perfumes made Richard queasy.
At his stop, Richard forcibly shoved past people trying to
get on without allowing anyone off. By
the time he left the train, Richard was fuming!
He raced for the club; scaling steps two at a time.
Its pool offered a healthy reprieve. Cool water baths were used for centuries as a
way to treat various ailments. The water
quenched his emotional fire.
Stretching his arms wide, Richard took his first
stroke. A modified butterfly stroke
allowed his body to stay in the water.
The shadow of his arms had become the fan-like tail of the leaping whale
he’d seen on an insurance company TV ad.
Richard felt powerful.
He settled into a rhythmic pace. But another swimmer kept creeping into his
lane slowing him down. The guy could
barely swim. Could this day get any
worse, he wondered. He fought through a
couple of laps before calling it a day; rage peaking.
He was about to confront the rude idiot who ruined his
workout. But as the other swimmer fought
to exit the pool, Richard noticed a US Army tattoo across his upper back . . .
and no legs from the knees down. Anger
melted into shame.
Distinguishing between petty trifles and serious injustice
can be difficult, especially when we're the ‘victim.’ We sometimes blow things out of
proportion. Anger needn’t corrupt us if
we remember that God is a God of justice and use our anger in a way that honors
Him.
Lord, sometimes anger gets the best of us. Help us realize that anger is not an antidote
(but a fuel) for more anger. Fill us
with Your divine love that we may extinguish the fires in our heart; that peace
may prevail in our souls. Amen
