15d • General discussion
Angry? Choose to live in Hope
Are you angry? So am I! Anger in this evil culture is an appropriate response. We can be angry at the violence in our culture. We can be angry that innocent people are murdered every day. We can be upset that politics turns to hyperbole and social media is destroying the brains of our young people. Anger signals that our culture has taken the wrong turn and that we know we could be better.
Anger is one of the daughter virtues of Hope! Hope tells us that life can be better, that we were made for more, that this is not the way things ought to be. Hope is not optimism: optimism believes that things will naturally turn out for the better. Hope has no such illusions. Hope recognizes that life can be better because good people choose to make it so. Anger is a righteous response to evil and violence and sin because we know that we were made for more!
The other daughter virtue of Hope is courage. Courage tells us to choose to do the hard thing and change the culture. Courage tells us to love our enemies and those who persecute us. Courage tells us to dialogue with those with whom we disagree and find some way to love them. Courage tells us to turn the other cheek, to go into the lion’s den to serve the most vulnerable. It takes courage to love, it takes courage to get involved and not sit on the sidelines, it takes courage to make a difference.
Live in hope. Today we exalt the cross of Jesus. Jesus taught us that the better way to live is to serve. Jesus embraced the cross in the hope of new life. We had nothing to offer — broken by sin, self-absorbed by our pride, lost in the darkness of error, and Jesus showed us the light of His love by courageously picking up His cross and sacrificing His life for us on Calvary.
So if you are angry, then embrace the hope that makes us Christian. Live courageously the call to love. Serve your neighbor, and make a difference. The world needs courageous people, it needs you to be courageous. Go to the cross and find your strength to be like Him and make that change.
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Angry? Choose to live in Hope
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