Be Slow to Anger
The week of April 11-17 was horrendous for our country in terms of violence. There were multiple mass shootings along with riots in several of our cities. I am writing and submitting this piece early in the following week because of my personal schedule. I fear the week of April 18-24 may be even worse. Lord, have mercy on our foolishness! Certainly, there are very real factors contributing to the violence that we are experiencing. Systemic racism is pervasive and a reality for far too many in our culture. But despite all of the campaigns and slogans, racial divisions seem to be growing among us rather than healing. And to be sure, the necessary shut-downs and stay-ins that were proper mitigations to stop the spread of the corona virus have only raised the heat on our disaffections with each other. We need another way to try and live together. In Jesus’ day, Jewish society was awash in injustice. The wealthy Jewish religious leaders were practical politicians who curr