Anger Management

 

I am headed south on I-85, and traffic is heavy.  Two eighteen wheelers ahead of me are carrying similar loads.  One is faster going up the hill, and the other is faster going down.  But neither is going fast enough to pass the other.  Traffic is building in the left lane as we all hope the next downhill stretch is long enough for the truck in our lane to pass and move over.   I check my passenger side mirror and see a pickup truck barreling down the right lane passing cars at 80 MPH.   As he approaches the slower eighteen wheeler in his lane, I know what is coming next.  I close the gap between my car and the one ahead to an uncomfortably close distance, but apparently there is still room for him to squeeze in if I slam on my brakes.  I am furious at his disregard for anything that is right.

Do I need to confess yet?  I'm not sure, but I do know that Jesus felt anger.  He was fully man complete with all the emotions that come with being human, but He was also fully God and knew exactly how to process those emotions.

If I follow being cut off by the pickup truck with tailgating him at an unsafe distance while flashing my high beams and blowing my horn,  I believe that I am now sinning.  But, if I back off and acknowledge that his rudeness will probably only cost me about 2 seconds of my day, I believe my temporary anger is not a sin.

There are far more serious things for me to be angry about.  Someone harming a child is at the top of my list.   It is only with Jesus' help that I can know how best to respond.  I pray that he helps me with that today.

Which Idol?

 

Caroline and I watch a few TV programs regularly.   We like two of the medical dramas and also enjoy the singing competitions.  When American Idol first aired 24 years ago, it became popular largely because of the scathing remarks Simon Cowell would let fly at some of the less qualified singers.  In the third season, Dianna DeGarmo made a name for herself.  She went to high school with my kids, so watch parties sprang up around our county to support her.  She finished second to Fantasia and went on to perform on Broadway after Idol.  Historically, you wouldn't find much of Jesus in the show.  Occasionally, there would be a contestant with experience leading worship.  Fast forward to 2026, and we had one whole episode dedicated to songs of faith, and the two finalists regularly sang worship songs in the competition.  Hannah Harper won this year.  Her voice was certainly not as powerful as some of the other singers, but her countenance draws people in.   There is something different about her.  After the announcement that she was the winner, she closed the show with "At The Cross".    She was a little emotional in that one, so here is the original song she auditioned with about being a mom, "String Cheese".  I acknowledge that there is not much good on television - and even if a well-made show exists, the subject matter probably isn't about good.  I don't know Hannah Harper personally, but I do know that the choices she made during her run have the power to affect thousands of other young women, and all of the rest of us, for good.

Holy Cathedral

Caroline and I just returned from a river cruise on the Rhine River.  We traveled with two close friends from high school band and one of their spouses, who is now also a close friend.  The cruise was bookended by 79 acres of tulips in Amsterdam and the 7000-foot Mount Pilatus in the Alps. In between were small towns in Germany, France and Switzerland.  Along the river, we saw castles built primarily as fortresses to protect the area, but almost always, the tallest structure in town was the cathedral.  The oldest cathedrals date back to the 4th century, but many that were damaged by natural disasters or war have been repaired or rebuilt in the last 800 years.  We had the chance to visit the cathedrals at almost every stop, and many were adorned with large pipe organs in the rear of the nave.  Given our musical backgrounds, we frequently mentioned how special it would be to hear one of the organs during a service. On our last stop in Basel Switzerland, we visited the cathedral there, Basel Minster.  While first built in 1019, it was rebuilt following the earthquake of 1356.   As we opened the large medieval doors, we immediately heard beautiful strains of music from the pipe organ.   Since no worship service was in progress, we were free to enter the church, sit and listen.  Shortly thereafter, we heard a new sound separate from the organ.   The organ accompanied a euphonium soloist who we later learned was rehearsing for a future performance.  Our son, Michael, played the euphonium in high school, so we were taken back 25 years to concerts when we heard him play.  We sat in awe of all of the beauty that filled our senses.

Back in the US, we don't have 800-year-old cathedrals, but we do have everything from one-room country churches to 2,000-seat megachurches—all built to the glory of our God, who lived, died and rose from the dead to save us from our sin.  Praise Him.