Since time began or shortly thereafter, the phrase “What is this world coming to?” has passed many lips.  I know my grandparents said it, my parents said it and I have said it too.  Of course, as we age, that question becomes more prevalent in our thoughts. 

On the front page of this week’s Citizen, the paper most of us find in our driveways every Friday morning, the news featured a story about a man who was charged with second degree murder for shooting and killing his neighbor over a cat.  Yes, a cat.  The neighbor’s cat had dared to come into his yard.  He contacted the neighbor and threatened to shoot the feline.  The neighbor came over and begged him not to shoot the cat so the man shot and killed the neighbor instead.  I know when I saw this, I could not believe it and thought, “What is this world coming to?”

There could have been more to the story.  Maybe an ongoing feud of some kind.  Maybe mental illness played a part, but that was the story that was reported.  At any rate, anger undoubtedly played a large role.  Anger is a devious thing.  It usually starts small with some minor infraction or a bruising of the ego and then morphs insidiously into an obsession which we can’t get over.

Possibly someone played their music too loud, said something that hurt your feelings or in the above case, allowed their cat to come into your yard.  There are many things that anger people.  Instead of initially nicely asking them to turn their music down, telling them they hurt your feelings or asking them to keep better track of their cat, we fret about the incidents and they grow into something resembling rancor or even rage. We need to follow these words found in James 1:19. Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

By asking the offending person what is going on and really listening to them, we can often resolve the issue peacefully. Perhaps we misunderstood them and by being slow to anger, the bad feelings dissipate on their own. Learning to control your anger when it is in the beginning stage is great advice because we learn to treat it as something minor. At that point you can still ask nicely if they would turn their music down or keep their cat in their own yard.  If you let the anger fester you are likely to blow the situation out of proportion and that’s usually when the bigger problems occur. Dealing maturely with anger often comes down to emotional intelligence and self-control.

God could be angry with most of us about something we have done or said every day.  Yet, he continues to forgive us and loves us unconditionally in spite of our sinful actions. I know this seems like a simplistic answer to a big problem, but certainly worth a try. I pray that we all strive to be better people, be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.  We would be happier people and our world would certainly be better for it.

Patty