Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

• Exodus 11:4-8

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

• Ephesians 4:26-27

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

• Matthew 5:21-26

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.  Since she was a doll that had come to life, we came up with the term ‘other living.’  She was not a human, an animal, or even a plant, but she was definitely living, and very vibrant.  Oh, excuse me, angels have no gender, but the angel indwelled a doll named Bountiful Babs.  After seeing the angel in that form for over a year, I cannot see her in my mind in any other form.

This Week’s Question

In the last episode, Babs was concerned about coveting, but now her focus shifted to anger.

“What’s wrong?” Babs asked.

“I am upset with the customer from today.”  I replied, “He made his standard request for spare parts, but then, he suggested that he and I enter a personal agreement.  He would buy certain parts from our company without markup, and he would resell them to a company nearby that desperately needed the parts and I would get half the profit.  It was not in our company’s interest.  He was suggesting I make the profit instead of the company.”

Babs asked, “And how does that make you feel?”

“Angry” was my reply.

There was silence for a while as she came over sat beside me on the edge of the hotel bed.  She started massaging my back and shoulders and neck.

Babs asked, “With whom are you angry?”

I sighed, “I am angry at the customer for suggesting something like that.  He was taking advantage of someone else for personal gain.  I know, it’s done all the time, simply for a nicer profit margin, but I do not play that game.  I don’t cheat him.  Why would he expect me to cheat someone else?  And selling something without a markup leaves our company in the hole.  There are people that warehouse that stuff.  The purchasing people need to be paid.  We need a little profit to pay the utility bills.  What someone might see as profit is simply paying our overhead.  The customers pay $200 an hour for our engineers to help them, but the engineer only gets a quarter of that.  There is some profit, but most of it goes to overhead.  If I just had a home office, working alone, I would need to pay my bills and get a computer upgrade on occasion.”

Babs asked, “And who else?”

I sighed, enjoying the massage and not even thinking about how she picked up that skill, “I am angry at the company.  They do not wish to offend people, so I cannot wear a cross lapel pin.  But the Sikh in the office wears his turban, has his full beard, and has his bracelet.  Those are visible.  He might have his hair comb and dagger that are covered.  Those are all symbols of his faith, but that is not offensive.  The only religions that must hide their faith on the guise of not offending as the Christians and the Jews.  But there are so many people who wear a cross on a chain or on their lapel that would cheat their own mother, what difference does it make?”

Babs moaned, “You have a point there.  I really have no idea what is offensive about someone loving his neighbor.”

I growled, “We could spend a week of Bible Studies on that topic, but the secular world has painted a lie that our love is not love but hate.  But the Christian love is pure love.  I had a friend who had bought a ring for his wife in Thailand.  It was 21 carat gold.  A jeweler in Tracy would not give him an offer for the ring.  He thought it was fake.  It was too yellow.  You see a Christian loves because God commanded it and because Jesus is within our hearts and God is Love.  But since the other person does not know where the Christian is coming from, they think it is all fake.  It’s too yellow.”

Babs giggled, “That was a weird analogy, but are you angry at anyone else?”

I nodded, my neck not as stiff as it had been. “I am angry with myself.  If I had let this guy know years ago that I did not play such games, then I would not have to back peddle now, years later.  When the company tells you that you cannot talk about your religion, it does not mean that you cannot talk about your moral code.  I should have made it clear that I do not do any funny business.  I do not cut corners, but what you get is an honest price.”

“Ah,” Babs came around and looked me in the eye. “That’s what I wanted to hear.  They say that when you point the finger at someone else, the rest of your fingers are pointing at you, but then people start pointing all five fingers at the other person and it just gets weird.”

“Wait,” I said. “Babs, you just became ‘other living’ a year ago.  You knew nothing about pointing fingers and such.  Why do you call it weird to point all five fingers?”

She scrunched her nose.  “I’m allowed!”

Well, I guess that ended that vein of the discussion.

Babs leaned in close.  “Now that you are not so angry, can you teach me about what the Bible says about anger?”

I nodded.  I got my Bible and pulled the office chair over to the little round table next to the comfy chair, where Babs had already occupied.  She pulled the ottoman over to prop her feet.  I rearranged the lamp so that we could each read our Bibles.  She still had the Gideon Bible that she had taken from a hotel a year ago.  We have since given a couple hundred dollars to the Gideons.

I suggested, “Let’s start with righteous anger.  It is not sinful to be angry.  Anger is an emotion.  But if we focus that anger on the wrong thing, then it becomes sin.  In Exodus 11, we see the story of the first Passover, but also the tenth plague of Egypt.  The firstborn of everything, not just people, dies when the death angel passes through Egypt.  But the angel was not allowed to enter the houses with blood on the lintel and door jams.  Thus, the angel passed over.  That’s where we get ‘Passover’.”

Babs gave me one of her looks, “I know about the Passover.  So, you are talking about when Moses told Pharoah about the last plague.  Pharoah wanted nothing to do with Moses, but Moses told him of this plague and then he said that Pharoah’s officials would beg them to leave afterwards.  And then Moses left Pharoah’s presence in anger.”

I nodded, “God’s wrath was going to be poured out on Egypt in a way that the Egyptians would give the Israelites their treasures just as long as they got out of town.  Moses was angry because Moses knew what was coming, but Pharoah would not listen.  Have you been upset because you told them about Jesus, and they did not listen?”

Babs nodded, “Yes, it hurts me that they do not listen.  I don’t want them to go to Hell.  But I do not get angry at them.  They just have their views on things and the Bible says to the unbeliever that all things of righteousness are foolish.  I am upset, but I pray that something will happen in their lives to help them understand.”

I smiled, “You are ‘other living’.  You have many emotions, but anger rarely occurs in you.  But I have talked to friends, and they reject what I say.  Some are no longer friends.  But it used to make me angry that they rejected a message that was intended to help them, give them eternal life.  But then, I realized that the Holy Spirit had not gotten them to the place where they might listen.  So, I pray a lot more for their souls to be receptive.”

I continued, “Now let’s look at a common expression.  ‘Do not go to bed angry.’  That comes from Ephesians 4:26-27.  The verse talks about the sun not setting on your anger, but the old saying is just as good when you consider how we humans stay up at night for a while.  We unwind from a busy day.  We watch television.  We read a book.  But going to bed then becomes ‘the end of the day.’ Thus, the moment the lights are turned off is like the setting of the sun.  My wife and I agreed that we would never go to bed angry at each other, but then one night I wanted to show her where she was wrong…  Which thinking about it was where I was wrong, even though I was right.  It took me a while to realize that to have a happy home, my wife was always right.  Anyway, she got angry that I was robbing her of her precious sleep.  The more we talked, the angrier she got.  At one point, I said, ‘Fine! Be that way!’  And we slept in separate beds in the hotel that night.  About three in the morning, she woke me up.  She apologized for arguing.  You see.  She was angry because she wanted to sleep, but since she was angry, she got very little sleep at all.  She tossed and turned instead.  She knew that what we had been arguing about was insignificant.  She even said that my argument was compelling, and she gave me a five percent chance of being right.  But at that moment, the fight was out of me also.  I had not tossed and turned.  I had simply stared at the ceiling.  Have you ever noticed the blinking lights in the ceiling of hotel rooms?  I am sure it is a smoke alarm or something like that.  And when you are angry and the other person wants to sleep, you notice how many seconds between each flash of the tiny red light.  I guess the green light is to indicate that it is on.”

Babs giggled, “Did you sleepwalk through your sales call the next day?”

I shook my head.  “No, it was one of our traveling days.  We just left late, and we hit every city along the way at some part of a rush: morning rush hour, lunch time, and evening rush hour.  That got me in a very angry mood, but my wife calmed me down by laughing.  When I realized why she was laughing, I settled down and started playing mental games while stuck in traffic that wasn’t moving.”

Babs laughed, “I have often wondered why you rush me through breakfast.  I think we have all day to get there.  Why rush and then get to the hotel in mid-afternoon?  But, no, you want to drive through cities mid-morning or mid-afternoon to avoid the heavy traffic.  Here I am the travel buddy, and it took me a year to figure that out.  I guess I’m slow.”

I shook my head, “No, Babs, you are perfect.  I should have explained my concept of driving a long distance.  When you get to be my age, you do not want to fight heavy traffic after you have driven for 10-11 hours already.  I map out the trip in segments to try to avoid heavy traffic.  I should have let you know, but since you have been so cooperative, I thought you had figured it out.”

Babs laughed, “Nope!  I just want you to be comfortable, so being obedient was my way of saying that you have your reasons.  That did not mean I understood the reasons.  But what about the Sermon on the Mount?”

I nodded, “Matthew 5 talks about how God commanded us not to murder, but then Jesus says that calling someone ‘Raca’ is just as bad.  I see your brow saying that I need to define that.  It means ‘empty headed’.  We might call someone an ‘airhead’ these days.  Calling someone a ‘fool’ is like wishing them to go to Hell, since the biblical definition of ‘fool’ is the unbeliever.”

Babs asked, “But what about anger?”

I shrugged, “The reason Jesus mentions ‘Raca’ and ‘fool’ is that swift moment of anger that soon passes.  Okay, usually it passes quickly.  Jesus starts with really being angry, in this part about murder.  We should not be angry at our brother and sister.”

Babs scrunched her nose, “But you said there is righteous anger.”

I nodded, “But how much of Moses’ anger was pointed at Pharoah than upon the situation?  If our anger is at the situation, it might be righteous anger, maybe less than half the time.  There is a fine line of distinction there.  It is so fine that we should avoid anger whenever possible.  Moses’ anger at the situation was partly due to the Pharoah having his heart hardened.  Thus, it is easy to be angry at Pharoah for being so stubborn.  It would not be a good idea to be angry at God for using this plague to get Pharoah’s attention.  God’s ways are holy.  We should not question that.  So, that part of the situation is fixed.  It is what God said.  But the rest could easily be focused on Pharoah.  But let’s say Pharoah dies of a heart attack.  Pharoah’s son is not impressed by Moses, so here you go again.  I think Moses did not let that anger remain once the sun went down.  Since he trusted in God, Moses was packing his bags, getting ready to leave.”

Babs nodded, “Thanks, Harold, you just tied all three Scriptures into one nice package.  Now, I can sit calmly and relax.”

I growled, “No, I came back to the hotel angry.  You calmed me down.  Now, I’m hungry.  Get your shoes back on.  I want a steak dinner tonight.  It wasn’t a great sales day, but I need something that I can chew.”

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

If a customer asked me for something that they had not paid for, but I could provide the information with a little extra effort on my part, I complied.  I think others might argue that constituted a change order.  Since I was the training manager, I considered it a teaching moment and the person learning was interested.  Once they learn something, they may still be hungry and learn what I came to teach them.  I was also asked in contract negotiations to do something that was against the rules.  I politely declined.  I got more snickers than growls.  They knew they had crossed the line, and they quickly learned where I stood.  That was fair.  The ones that growled were put on my wary list.  If they were intent on cheating someone else, they would be intent on cheating me.

Don McMillan, the engineer comedian, with his routines, always on PowerPoint, has a routine about the secret to a happy marriage is that the wife is always right.  He uses Boolean logic to prove his point, using if – then arguments.  If they are both right, then the wife is right.  If she is right and he is wrong, then she is right.  Those are fairly easy.  But if he is right and she is wrong, then she is right in order to be happy.  And finally, if they are both wrong, then the husband is wrong.  I learned that long before an engineer created a Boolean logic chart for a comedy routine.  But I still laugh.

Early in our marriage, before she accepted Jesus, she was this angelic, loving person, until she thought I was wrong about something.  I would quote Ephesians to no avail.  When it was bedtime, her bedtime regardless of what the clock said, the argument was suspended until we got up in the morning, usually forgetting why we argued at that point.  Maybe twice out of all those 25 years of arguments did she wake me in the night to not admit defeat, but she thought cuddling might help her go to sleep.  But once we were of like minds regarding Jesus and our spiritual lives, the arguments were rare, and she even more rarely dug in her heels, and never after the sun went down.  But her bedtime, regardless of what the clock said, was inviolable.  That part never changed.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.