Back To Home Page To Archives - Spring of Life - H. Roger Bothwell Righteous Indignation Recently one of my colleagues exhibited righteous indignation over a blatant injustice. He grew red in the face, his voice quivered and his mouth became an exit for his untempered thoughts. After he had finished venting and had an opportunity to restore himself to his usual pleasant demeanor, I stopped in to talk. Being that he is young enough to be my son I pretended to be paternal as I shared one of life's hard earned lessons. Anger expressed, even in behalf of a just cause, rarely brings a correction to the problem. Even Jesus Himself did not stop the corruption in the sanctuary by chasing out the crooked moneychangers and thieving animal sellers. The next day they were back to business as usual. What Jesus did accomplish was a deepened resolution to get rid of Him, a reaction I don't think my young colleague desired for himself. How very interesting that Jesus would allow Himself to be so provoked when His very own scriptures say, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1. We must acknowledge that getting angry indeed makes us feel better, at least temporarily. However, in the long run it is the thoughtful application of a solution that counts. That's the hard part; coming up with a solution. Fortunately there is a promise about that. James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Jesus did find a solution. We call it Calvary. I'm Roger Bothwell and my address is roger.bothwell@verizon.net or 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453. Thank you for your support of our faith ministry. Past devotionals can be accessed at Archives