To Have Anger And Have Not

Psalm 4:1-8
From August 27, 2007

I have been thinking lately about some of my favorite movie lines. Most often, they are not the famous ones that (almost) everyone recognizes (“Hey, how do you all know that song?”) but rather they are quickies that really don’t catch the ear of the casual listener.

For example, in “To Have And Have Not,” one of my most favorite films, Lauren Bacall’s character concludes a phenomenally charged exchange with Humphrey Bogart with the classic, “You know how to whistle don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”

Lesser remembered by the average cinemaphile is the persistent Bogart’s inquiry into Bacall’s sudden sullenness in another scene. “You’re sore, aren’t you? I asked you a question; you didn’t answer. I said, ‘You’re sore, aren’t you?’” His rapid-fire inquisition without giving her a chance to answer the first time just hits me funny when I hear it.

Sore. Ticked. Other more vulgar expressions representing anger involving urine that I really don’t understand. We have all been angry about something sometime somewhere. At work, we often refer to it as “being TL.” That’s for “tight-lipped,” as one of my coworkers visibly becomes during one of his common phases of being honked off.

If anger is such a common emotion, we ought to know how to best deal with it. Many want to taaaalk about their feelings. Put all the cards on the table and see whose hand wins. I understand that each person is different but my experience is that when I crow the loudest about who or what has offended me, I am wrong to the degree commensurate with my volume and the brevity of time between the offense and my reaction.

In verse four, the other David writes, “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.”

A little alone time usually works best for me, too. I want to examine myself to judge my own contribution to the problem. I want to see what I need to correct and change about myself. After some time to ponder the situation from a number of viewpoints besides only mine, I may find that a circumstance exists which really does require gentle confrontation. Many times, even if I am accidentally right, I will determine that it just might not be worth the trouble to stir up trouble. As often as not, I sometimes conclude that I was indeed wrong! Then, of course, I must set about making remedial relationship reparations.

Oops! Out of space for this week. “This [devotional] will remain closed. For tonight.”