+ One of the magnificent promises that comes with the dawning of
a new day is that it is fresh, untried, and filled with wonders to behold, as if
for the first time, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
This new day may
resemble yesterday in some ways, but how we deal with challenging situations
today, hopefully, can be with even more poise, dignity, insight, and compassion
that comes from the experience of living yesterday.
Our readings today,
for example, speak of anger. And this is a critical topic for Jesus because,
first of all, he knows how it works: he himself was angry at times, in fact
many times, yet justifiably so. But he did not let his anger bleed over into
the next scenario or situation he found himself in. How did he do this change
so quickly?
He gave us a valuable
tool in dealing with anger that he himself used– let the emotion not leak over into the next day, the new day, the
fresh day of new possibilities for doing good. Let the “stomping around and
anger part” end with the setting sun. This Jesus did! This we too can do with
his help!
This does not mean
that the topic of disturbance has been exhausted or concluded – but it will
give a fresh, new approach to it today– after a good night’s sleep – that was
also not affected by heat and negativity involved.
Be
transformed by the renewal of your minds, Jesus says in
another place.
And controlling the
heat of not only anger, but of any other negative passion such as jealousy,
envy, fear, hostility, despair is a good place to start – because the passion,
the emotion, is merely a feeling – a feeling that can be controlled by the
mind.
And when we learn to
do this more readily ourselves, becoming more virtuous each and every day, then
we can be an agent in redirecting the non-virtuous man: we do it by our example
of right thinking, right being, and right living.
This Lent would be a
good time to tone up on our own practice of virtue and right thinking – so that
all negativity in the world – especially that which leaks out of our nation’s
capital every day - will not take a serious toll on us, and collaterally on
those we interact with.
There is hope,
because the mind can be renewed!
Cast away from you all the crimes you have
committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
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