It's all your fault. Anger is not an emotion or a choice I make or anything. It's all your fault. You made me angry.
Actually, the truth is that we make ourselves angry. We may not have control over the events that spark our anger, but our remaining there is a choice.
In Genesis 27, we find a scenerio that would give me "reason" to be angry. Isaac's wife, Rebekah overheard old Isaac's instructions to his oldest son, Esau. He was to go hunt some wild game and bring it back for his dad, who would bless him before he died. She was the one who devised the plan to trick the old man. She even told Jacob, "My son, let the curse fall on me." Wow. She was way off base here. Jacob was next, though, he could've stood up to his mom and protested that this was wrong. But he took the goatskins on his hands and neck (gross) and fooled his dad. He even "used God" in his deception, explaining how he found the wild game so fast, "The Lord your God gave me success." Ahh, not good. "Poppycock," as they say.
It's interesting how powerful and enabling Isaac's words of blessing were. I bet you that, short of the "name it and claim it" heresy of excess, that there is something to speaking blessings to our children and each other. Surely there is something powerful about this. Maybe God chooses to act on our spoken blessings like a prayer that's His will...? Hmmm...
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 20, 2004 08:49 AM