thoughts on the news of the day: anger

hmmm…..

            Seems like there are a lot of reports about multiple shootings in today’s news.  The young man in Norway who admitted to shooting a group of young adults who were attending a youth rally on an island in Norway is one. Then there is a reported shooting in Grand Prairie, Texas where a man shot 5 people in a local roller rink. 

            What kind of anger could inspire a man or a woman to react in such a violent way?  Anger and hate are the most agressive of emotions.  Nearly all anger is the product of something else.  Either it is jealousy, greed, lust or fear that usually fuel the volatile reaction of anger. 

            Sure, all of us get angry.  Someone pulls out in front of us in a parking lot; the boss passes us over for that raise; a loved one disappoints us.  And we get mad.  Sometimes the anger even turns into rage.  Then, we react in different ways, we smolder, we yell, we fight.

            The key is to avoid letting our anger get out of control.  If our anger gets the best of us, we are in trouble and those around us are, too.  When that happens, we can count to ten.  We can step back and consider our part in it.  And we can pray for God to release us from this feeling and give our hearts forgiveness instead.

            I wish that’s what the shooters of the tragic events of this weekend would have done.  There would be a lot of lives saved if they had.

            hmmm…..