Calm

Calm our anger and forget your rage; do not fret, it only leds to evil.
-Psalm 37

After a frustrating Monday, this is good advice to start a Tuesday off with. It's also the first day students are back in my school district!

Anger

"Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for a man's anger does not fulfill God's justice. If a man who does not control his tongue imagines that he is devout, he is self-decieved; his worship is pointless."
-James 1:19b-20, 26

This reminder that I come across every Monday helps me get through those stereotypical Mondays. Today was my first Monday of work and my daugher's first day of kindergarten. She had a great time because the homework was all for me and my wife and took us until after 10 PM to get through everything that was "due" tomorrow. As a teacher, I know most parents don't meet those school imposed deadlines, but we didn't want to become one of those parents on day 1.

Female Wisdom

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice; down the crowded ways she calls out, at the city gate she utters her words: "How long, you simple ones, will you love inanity, how long will you turn away at my reproof?"
-Proverbs 1:1-7, 20-33

With all of the masculine references in the Bible, I am surprised at the fact that Wisdom is feminine. Men and women often have different roles to play here on earth. However, a lot of Jesus's characteristics were feminine for those times and his being male emphasized those characteristics of gentleness, for example, which would be dismissed as a typical fault in a woman. Perhaps husbands still don't fully appreciate their wife's wisdom yet or perhaps they tune out too soon when the first thing out of her mouth sounds like nagging as it does in the passage above. Either way, there's a lot to think about ;)

Glenn Beck

This is my commandment: that you should love one another. -John 15:12

This quote stands out in my mind today because a good friend acknowledged on FaceBook that we are called to love one another, but asked how could you love this man (in reference to Glenn Beck). I don't know as much about him as others that may that follow him, but from what little I know he seems like he's far from the epitome of Satan that political opponents make him out to be. He's a Christian, so even if his Christian beliefs as a Mormon differ from yours as a Catholics or Protestant, there are many more similarities than differences.

From what the media has reported, he and those at the rally have spoke in nothing but peaceful terms, whereas critics leading up to the rally and some at the counter rally felt that they could use the KKK and his tea party interchangably. I feel like I'd be grasping at straws to try and respond to that because I don't understand logically where all this anger is coming from. Supporters of MLK that share his race should be proud of his contributions to society to be sure, but those that share his faith should be even more proud because I believe he was a Christian first and placed everything else, even his race, somewhere below that.

Gossip

Never let evil talk pass your lips. Get rid of all bitterness, anger, harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind. -from Ephesians 4:29-32

If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say anythin' at all. -from the movie Bambi

Unfortunately, this is often disregarded because too many people look to short-term rewards and not the bigger picture that God encourages us to see. Politicians have research that more votes are more determined by negative ads than positive ones. That's because studies have shown we are often motivated by emotion than logic. Anger is a stronger emotion than logic.

In the moment, it's sometimes difficult to think clearly, especially if we are relying on ourselves. But if we look to God for strength, we will have the grace to say what needs to be said (if anything) and more importantly: do what needs to be done, whether it is voting with a clear conscience or stopping the verbal assualt in school when the momentum seems turned against a defenseless person (whether justified or not).

Military Families

"If God is on our side who can be against us?" states Paul in his letter to the Romans (8:31). The problem with this quote isn't the quote, of course, but the often twisted interpretation of it. Many seem to de-emphasize the "if" and assume that God must be on their side. Pre-emptive strikes would generally fall into that category. If Andy punched Brian because he heard that Brian was going to punch him, Andy is the one who did something wrong, no matter what a jerk Brian may be.

Defense, on the other hand, is often justified. WWII was certainly justified on the Allies part in Germany. The killing that Germany was guilty of warranted a response to make them stop killing more. Diplomacy failed. It was a winable battle. And the Allies probably didn't kill as many Axis as the Axis would have if left unimpeded. In Japan, however, dropping the atomic bomb to end the war sooner and save more lives overall on both sides would have been justified if those were not lives of non-combatants.

I just met another wife of a military husband today and there are a number of military families among my extended family and friends. These Christian soldiers are often put in a tough spot because of how questionable the justification of the war is that they find themselves in. It doesn't seem like Al-queda and the Taliban would have killed as many people as have died on both sides with Americans and others being over there. Of course, those that believe that a presence there has prevented more 9-11 type attacks could argue otherwise if they felt there were no other means for preventing those attacks. That's as debatable as what the definition of winning means. At least diplomacy was tried, and now that anger has subsided from the masses, efforts are focused on attaining peace and not revenge. It's too bad it couldn't have started that way (or not started at all).

Actions

I love the Word of God, but sometimes actions speak louder than words and today those actions served as my prayer because I struggled to make time to really read any prayers between getting the baby and the five year ready while mom was struggling to bring the three year old home from the doctor because mom was having an episode that required us to head to the ER as soon as they got home and have the kids miss lunch (but got to watch more than the usual amount of TV in the waiting room) to eventually come home when mom was better and take the 5 year old shopping while the younger two slept at home until dinner and then return everything that was due at the library only to have the two older girls get into a fight and cry in the children's section, so we returned what we were going to take out back to the shelves, only to be informed that the DVD we returned wasn't in the case (it was still in the player at home) and would have to be renewed and returned later, which leads up to now trying to get all three of them into their bedtime routines as close as possible despite all the deviations from the rest of today's routines. Amen.