Psalm 73:6
“Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves
with violence.”
*****************************
On my way home from work today, two guys got into a road
rage battle trying to exit the interstate.
One was speeding ahead on the shoulder, so the guy in front of me tried
to cut him off. They jockeyed back and
forth, speeding ahead, almost hitting other cars along the way. The whole thing resulted in one of the men
getting out of his car and shouting at the other with a vulgar stream of
obscenities. At the end, one of the men
actually spit on the other.
So much anger must have been in these men’s hearts. Not because of the slow traffic conditions on
a Friday afternoon, but because things in their lives had built up inside of
them to the point of detonating an explosion.
Neither of them wanted to back down; they were full of themselves, full
of pride.
Given the now extended amounts of time I spend in my car,
commuting for my new job, I see more and more of these things each day. Many times, I am even a part of it. But, I
have really been trying to take the approach of just letting it go. Someone tries to sneak ahead? Let it go.
Someone cuts me off. Let it go.
Christ told us, “do not resist an evil person. If anyone
slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew
5:39). This approach is not about
letting someone walk all over you. It
is about setting yourself aside, turning away, and recognizing the pain or
struggle the angry person carries with them.
Father God,
The peace you can give passes all
understanding. When we accept that gift
of peace from you, our souls become more aligned with Your purpose for us.
Help us, Lord, to set aside petty
ways. Help us to find our strength,
which comes from you,
And when the anger wells up inside
of us and is ready to spill out
violently, with unintended consequences, guide us to a place of calm so that
we can see another path beside “reacting”.
In the name of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
This post reminded me of a conversation with our Jehoshua House guests one night at the Hamilton County Jail:
ReplyDeleteWhen you are driving down the road and someone cuts you off and you get angry (by yelling screaming, cursing, blowing your horn etc.), who does it affect? Just you. The person who cut you off likely doesn't realize what they have done, you are angry. and they don't care.
Forgiveness can be the key in many areas of one's life...
It also reminded me of this recent story about the power of forgiveness:
Woman forgives man who shot her in 1992
March 21, 2013
http://www.indystar.com/article/20130321/NEWS02/303210105/Woman-forgives-man-who-shot-her-1992
Misty Wallace was using a payphone in 1992 when a carjacker shot her in the face, stole her purse and tried to steal her car. Years later, Wallace found the man on Facebook and began a journey of forgiveness and healing for them both.
Misty Wallace and Keith Blackburn will appear with Katie Couric on ABC’s “Katie” show to discuss their 21-year odyssey of forgiveness and healing. The interview tentatively is scheduled to air 3 p.m. (EST) Monday March 25, 2013 on WRTV-6. Link to clips from Katie Couric’s show are here: http://www.katiecouric.com/on-the-show/2013/03/25/redemption-forgiveness-todd-bridges-jim-mcgreevey-homosexuality/
Redemption and forgiveness have been a long journey for Keith Blackburn and Misty Wallace.
Wallace was 18-years-old when she was shot in the face by a carjacker on Oct. 18, 1992. Blackburn was on drugs, in gangs and a violent reckless 17-year-old when he pulled the trigger.
Two years ago, Wallace posted a message on Facebook for the man who shot her. She asked him to meet her.
“This isn’t about hate, fighting, arguing,” Wallace wrote in that Dec. 21, 2010 post. “I have forgiven you.”
She had forgiven him. He hadn’t asked for it and did not deserve it.
“It changed my life,” said Blackburn, 38, now a chaplain for the Indiana Department of Correction. “I do not deserve her forgiveness but she gave it to me freely. That changed me.”
It changed them both. And now, through an unlikely set of circumstances, Wallace, who lives in Plainfield, and Blackburn, Indianapolis, are on a mission to tell others about the healing power of forgiveness.