Anger never just stays 'home'

My husband had just arrived to pick me up at our son's. When our son came down the stairs reporting an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania rally, it took me back to sixth grade and my teacher standing in the door of the classroom telling us President John F. Kennedy had been shot. 

The outcomes were different. But it was the same sinking feeling. I'm like many people right now, following news feeds for details. One interview with a neighbor of the man in the bleachers who died in the gunfire lodged in my mind. Matt had lived near Corey for four years.  

He said this about him, “He was a good person. We might not have agreed on the same political views, but that didn't stop him from being a good friend and neighbor. He donated money to us when I was in the hospital and he would always come by at our yard sales. He always waved hello when I drove past his house.”

It seems in today's world there is some unwritten, but understood, decree that once someone makes known where they stand on a particular subject, those who don't agree can no longer be a “good friend and neighbor.” Why is this? 

This is a repeat story — but one worth telling. Earlier this year when I was driving a car gifted me by my niece in Washington, D.C., it still had our capital's license plates. One man who was staring at my parked vehicle prompted me to say, “I'm not from D.C.” He replied, “I was hoping it was a rental.” 

I tossed back, “I kind of like driving around with these exotic plates.” And they were exotic this far west. The man drove off calling, “You'd better get new ones. Somebody might think you're a Democrat!” 

Another friend, who is still a friend, said, “I'm not riding in that car until you change those plates.” They were conversational yeast, for sure. It was all in fun for me until she said, “That's a good way to get your car keyed.” 

I had to ask what that was. I learned it's when someone uses a key or sharp object to scratch the paint on your vehicle. All because of possibly distrusting my license plate — making an assumption about my political party and deciding I am a person with whom they don't agree — and this is how they can vent their anger and “punish” me. I can return to my car knowing I have been judged, tried, and condemned — by a car key.  

This stuff doesn't flow from anywhere good. Anger, be it constructive or destructive, never just stays “home.” The only way I have found to disarm its destructive side is to get blazing honest — let God reveal it to me, roots and all — and together we heal it. A life free from consuming anger ultimately trusts God in every outcome. It says, “I don't know it all, but You do.” It says, “I know You've got a world the destruction in this one cannot touch, so I live in this one, but I hope in that one.”  

We do just what Jesus did. He said, “I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day.” He also said, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” Jesus had big reasons to be angry, yet His journey didn't hold that. Neither does He want it for me.