The seduction of anger....

I'm reflecting on the sad events at my alma matre, Virginia Tech, today, and have been mulling over a statement made by one of the pastors at today's convocation. He urged people not to give in to the strong seduction of anger-- a powerful image for me.

As I watch the trauma unfold on various news channels, images of the campus I love bringing up fond memories inextricably intertwined with new images--those of hate, destruction, devastation-- I appreciate the reminder that anger is seductive.

So many issues in my daily life tempt me to respond with anger....or at the very least irritation. Church drama, kid stuff, marriage glitches, tax season, manuscript rejections, the number on the scale, a poorly timed phone call--you name it, I can work up a good mad over the most insignificant thing. What a perspective changer, to view anger as a temptress, seducing me from that thing that I am betrothed to.

So, as I am challenged today, I'll challenge you: Let us love. Love our husbands, love our kids, love our homes, love our circumstances, love our lives--wrought with challenges and mistakes, disappointments and failures---let us love. Most of all, let us love God--pursuing Him with all that we are in the face of so many things that don't bear the marks of His character. Let us love God with all we are in a world that needs to know Him.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.