The National Football League announced this week that it has levied severe penalties on the “bounty” system, a locker-room game where players got informal bonuses for vicious hits on the other team’s most valuable players. Injure a player, win $1,000; knock out a player, win $1,500; double or triple your money during the playoffs.  A player who knocked out the quarterback of the 2010 NFC Championship game could have cashed in $10,000.   The stakes were high; so were the penalties.

It’s all baffling to me.  How do you decide when and how to punish violence in a game that rewards violence?  I wonder the same thing when I see a young person sent off to war, trained to kill combatants and civilians, then prosecuted for exploding over the line.  Doesn’t the violence beget violence?  Who is responsible?  Where do you draw the line?

Most of us don’t feel connected to such cycles of violence, but Jesus connects personal anger with social violence:  “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder’; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire (Matthew 5:21-22).

That seems extreme. Anger is a human emotion, a God-given one, right? Surely it’s not something that should damn us to hell, right?

Still, holding on to anger, I once heard and often repeat, is like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die. You only poison yourself.

Maybe it’s worse than that. When we nurse our anger, our blood pressure rises. Resentment seeps through our pores. Steam rises. We can turn the anger in on ourselves when we disappoint ourselves; we can turn it on the people around us when they disappoint or betray us. Whether we choke it down or not, our anger affects the people around us.   Anger begets anger, just like violence begets violence.   It can create a climate, an atmosphere, that permits escalation to occur.

During Lent, many of us try to do better, to be better. To be more patient with our loved ones. Maybe even to be more patient with ourselves. Not to lose our temper. Not to hold onto anger or bitterness.

What I learn each year during Lent is that it isn’t really about us and what we do or fail to do. It’s about God, and how God responds when we do what we vow not to do, or fail to do what we vow to do.   The truth is that we all fail to live fully up to our Lenten commitments, which gives us the chance to receive the immeasurable gift of God’s grace, all over again. Forgiveness is a powerful antidote to the poison of anger, and it may be the only thing that can set us free.

-Rev. Angie

Sit down

Let go

Breathe in deep

Exhale slow

Unclench

Unwind

Ease up

Free the mind

No rules

No goal

Light heart

Quiet soul

Spoil the child

Spare the rod

Give up

Rest in God

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

For once on the face of the earth,

let’s not speak in any language;

let’s stop for one second,

and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines;

we would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.

Fisherman in the cold sea

would not harm whales

and the man gathering salt

would look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,

wars with gas, wars with fire,

victories with no survivors,

would put on clean clothes

and walk about with their brothers

in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused

with total inactivity.

Life is what it is about;

I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving,

and for once could do nothing,

perhaps a huge silence

might interrupt this sadness

of never understanding ourselves

and of threatening ourselves with death.

Perhaps the earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead

and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve

and you keep quiet and I will go.

Source: translated by Alistair Reid in Extravagaria

yet I look for the light through the pouring rain.”

We can’t ever stop looking for the light in the storm, for it is the beacon which will guide us home. The sun is always shining even when the sky is filled with clouds. It is in the hard times when we have to reach out and grab God’s grace for it is always there just like the sun.

May God’s grace shine through you and light the path for others who are in the dark.

-Cindy Jones

Lord, open me to you completely.

Help me to hear your voice
and see with your eyes
the needs of all those
I can be of assistance to.

Let me learn to live as you lived,
to help all those I see,
and turn my back on no one.

Please fill me with understanding
of the needs of others I meet
and learn of daily.

Fill me with your spirit.

Amen.

Every year when Lent comes back around I have trouble deciding what I should be giving up.

Do I give up some food ?

Do I give up a vice? (I have just about given up all of them already! Time seems to have done that!)

Well, this year I have decided to give up feeling sad. No more wishing my kids were here. No more wishing my parents were still around. No more wishing I hadn’t sold my business. The list goes on and on.

Now I plan to take on happy projects. Things that fulfill me.

Now I have to decide just what the projects will be. I guess I should increase my participation at Church. That’ll do it!

-Ed Boutwell

My mother loves to cook. She always loved to try out new recipes, which unfortunately did not go over very well with her four young children. Unfortunately, her culinary skills were lost on us when we were young. Often she would spend hours preparing a new exotic dish, only to be met with cries of, “Oh, gross! What is this?”

That’s what the freed but hungry slaves said when God sent them out to gather food during their journey toward the promised land.   The word “manna” actually means “what is this??”

A people set free from slavery prayed, “Give us our daily bread.” Manna was God’s answer.

God gave instructions to these pilgrims about the divine provisions.

Each morning the heads of households were go out and gather manna for that day.

Each householder was to gather the same amount for each person in his household.

On the 6th day they were to gather enough for 2 days.

On the 7th day they were not to gather at all.

Some funny things happened. Some gathered more than God instructed, but even so, they had nothing left over. Some gathered less, but still had enough. Those who tried to hoard for future days found that the manna spoiled overnight and became infested with worms. Those who went out to gather on the 7th day, found none.

This is the economy of God.

There is miraculously enough for each person, each and every day. God provides, we participate. We gather and we distribute. We are entrusted with this holy duty. If we keep too much for ourselves, it will spoil and become infested with worms. This may be metaphorical, but it’s worth considering during this season of Lent. We are entrusted with providing for all who are in our care, all who are unable to care for themselves. This is not metaphorical, and our failure to do so is also worth considering during this season of Lent.

God could feed the world without us, but for some reason, we are given the blessing and burden of putting food on the tables of the world. Our own children may scrunch up their noses and say, “gross, what is that?,” but many are hungry for the bread of Life. That is both metaphorical, and not.

-Rev. Angie Wright

I am afraid to live and I am afraid to die: I am afraid to get mad and I am afraid to cry: Fear is squeezing the life out of me. It prohibits me from chasing my dreams and broadening my horizons. I am scared of the unknown. His skin is not like mine so how could he understand me. She is in a wheelchair so how can she know how I feel? The family is in a country where they do not speak our language so how can they understand my words? What if I make a mistake and offend someone? I am afraid, I am afraid of God, for any day he could quit loving me. Is He real anyway?

 

Fear is the vine that grows wild and wraps around anything in its path. No matter how big or small, your fright is like a vine left unattended it gets out of control.  It is our fear that causes prejudice, anger and inflated egos. Fear can be overcome by God’s word. His word is like the sun shining down on flowers, when taken in it will help you grow. It can be the root of your existence, when you meditate on his daily word the fear dissipates and the love begins to blossom. A heart filled with love does not have room for fear. When your eyes are set on God, your heart is one with His and your spirit is at peace, you can do all things through Christ even love someone who is different than you.

-Cindy Jones