Angry...not a problem.

I get angry a lot. Not mad...angry. My emotional make up does not allow me to let anger slip away easily. It is hard to keep from dwelling on anger, as Yoda would be quick to tell you. Anger is what doomed Anakin Skywalker and turned him into Darth Vader. Anger led to the Dark Side, the easy path. As he would go on to teach Anakin's son Luke turning to the Dark Side is a constant temptation for those who seek to have power.

You don't have to have a Stormtrooper helmet on your mantle to know that anger is not merely a problem for Jedi in the Star Wars universe. We all struggle with our anger. Yet, we realize that anger leads to power. When people who are angry use their rhetorical talents to lash out others, they have taken the quick and easy path. They have turned to the Dark Side because they realize what power their anger holds will get the job done much sooner if they can make other people angry. Hence my struggle in writing blogs.

Every day I return to several websites that tempt me to take the quick and easy path. My anger boils and I want to lash out. I stew over feelings of bitterness and look for a way to harm others through my words. Thankfully, I often fail to make full use of my anger. Others are more adept. As I read what other Presbyterian ministers write on certain websites and blogs, I just can't imagine what it must feel like to be so angry all the time. Indeed, it is those who possess that loudest voices that get heard. There are some very loud voices. While I understand where many are coming from theologically and politically, it is the anger that turns me away.

As much as I struggle with anger, I am glad that God helps me to restrain it. Anger can tear someone apart. The Dark Side of all of us threatens to undo us and everything we preach: love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, etc. You get the picture. Down in my heart I know I would make a terrible Sith Lord. Still, that does not stop me from having those Darth Vader moments where I desire my thoughts and words to have absolute power. (Thank God I don't have a Force Grip to go with my anger!) Today I pray that the Holy Spirit will diffuse my anger so that I can enjoy the presence of Christ this week. It is not my job to overturn the tables in the Temple. Jesus is the only one I know who can pull of the righteous indignation thing.