A Non-Fundraising Post (Sort of)

These words in my morning reading leaped off the page.

Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.

Psalm 37:9

The Psalmist is concerned about evil doers. Most likely he has been on the receiving end of their mistreatment. His consistent advice, to himself and us, is along the lines of “put your trust in the Lord and do good.” (verse 4)

Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.

These are strong words aren’t they? Can my anger and rage lead to evil? If left unchecked, of course it can. Every day we see egregious displays of mayhem on the front page of the paper and the precipitating culprit is often unchecked anger.

While we certainly hope we are not in danger of winding up in the newspaper, the poisonous impact of anger lurks around every corner. Anger can lead us to:

• Looking down on others

• Withholding affection

• Passive aggressive behavior, which can border on silliness

• Harsh, unkind words

• Self-hatred and meanness

• Self-righteousness which is evident to everyone but us

• Lack of compassion and empathy

• Revenge

• Lethargy

• Numerous physical maladies

Anger is bad news.

PS Since this blog is on a website connected with fundraising, I feel compelled to make a tie in. So here it is. An angry person will make a lousy fundraiser. This sentence is not written in an effort to be funny or witty. It is simply true.