Blog 248 – 03.11.2016

Holding on to anything too tightly is probably not a very healthy thing but some things are more unhealthy than others to hold on to. One of my favorite jokes is about a man who walks into a blacksmith shop and picks up a horseshoe the blacksmith has just place on the work bench next to the anvil with large tongs. The man immediately throws the horse shoe down. The blacksmith with a knowing smile says, “Hot?” And the man replies, “Nope, it just doesn’t take me long to look at a horseshoe.” The little guy I call ego has us doing lots of silly and hurtful things to ourselves like not letting go of painful hot horseshoes or people. You don’t have to hate people or wish they would drink poison to realize you need to let them go.

Anger is a poison but more often than not it does more hurt to the hater than the hated. Oh, sure if you allow the anger to move you to commit violence upon another they might get hurt more than you. But often the other may not even be aware of your anger or even if they are may figure that it is your problem and not theirs. Jesus required his disciples to live to a higher standard than the average bear. He said that if one is about to pray and remembers that a brother has something against him he or she should put the prayer on hold and go and attempt to settle things with the aggrieved brother. Hey, that’s even a tougher one than that turning the other cheek thing. Little ego hates that and is not disturbed by all the prayers in the world but when people quit praying and start building bridges he gets worried. Fences, walls, churches that’s okay with ego but no bridges please.

Hold on a minute, Quicksdraw, you mean not only can I not nurse my own hurt pride and feelings but I am expected to make a real effort to settle my brothers grievances with me? Hey, that’s how I read it. As Forest Gump said, “Being brothers is tough.” In the nineteen seventies there was a popular saying, “Let go and let God.”

Anger will eat you up. It will poison everything in your life. Let it go and let love grow in its place.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White