Anger and Reflection

The past two Sundays I have listened to sermons that have had a profound impact in my daily life. I'd thought I'd share the gist of them...

Gen. 1:27 "God created man in His own image, in the image of man He created him, male & female He created them." Our guest preacher talked of how being made in the image of God means that we are a reflection to others of what God is like. He asked the questions, "How are you reflecting God? How are you reflecting God to your children, your spouse, your neighbor, etc.?" He talked about things as simple as the tone of our voice being a reflection of God. I was convicted of how often the tone of my voice portrays annoyance or frustration when dealing with my family - specifically my feisty 2 1/2 year old that is holding strong in the terrible tantrums right now. The speaker had many other insightful words to offer that I hope I will remember and apply as well, but I'm still here, wondering about my reflection, and working on my tone.

This past Sunday the sermon was about anger. Maybe surprising to you, I struggle with anger. I hide it well; it's a quiet rage. Pastor Jeff gave a wonderful piece of advice that I'm trying to apply. He simply said, when you get angry, don't allow the inner dialogue to fester. Let it pass. Refuse to let your brain think of why your anger is justified or how you think things should have gone...let...it...go. In the past, I have had a LOT of angry inner dialogue. I'm trying to be more zen. It sounds simple enough, but just today I had several instances (4 to be exact) where I forced myself to say, "nope, not going there." And it was hard! I wanted to go there. I was mad and I wanted to analyze all the reasons why I was mad and what should have happened instead of what did...blah, blah blah. Nope, not...going...there. The only thing I could do to refocus was to sing (sometimes in my head and sometimes out loud). This may or may not lead people to believe I am crazy, we'll see how the rest of the week goes.

If anyone out in cyber-world actually reads this, let me just say that my reflection of the God of the universe pales in comparison to the real deal, even on my best day. And I've probably made you mad before, and you've probably made me mad before too. But here I am and I'm going to try really hard and let it go, so the world can have a little less anger in it.