Danger Will, Danger

Tuesday September 1st, James 1: 19 My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Your anger can never make things right in God's sight. I get angry, sometimes very angry. Jesus got angry, sometimes very angry. Anger is not always a bad thing and sometimes anger, holy anger, is what motivates us finally to work for justice in this world. Anger is sometimes closer to the will of God than that perpetually fake smile often seen on religious TV. But there is a reason the word anger is part of the word danger, anger can easily slip over edge. Righteous anger is only one small step from self-righteous anger. The danger comes when it starts to feel good and a little smug about that anger instead of being bothered by it. “Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possible the most fun. To like your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain your are given and the pain you are giving back – in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner