We came into the supermarket parking lot just in time to see an old man trying to park his car in the area reserved for shopping carts. When another shopper tried to stop him he became angry. If it had not been so sad it would have been funny. I wondered about the cause for his anger. Was he angry at the person who was trying to help him? Or was he angry at himself for attempting something quite stupid? Or was he angry at life and the process that slowly eats away at our vitality? Perhaps he was angry at all three?
Often we use angry as a cover for being embarrassed. That way we can shift the blame to another. Blaming others is very human. Perhaps it was mankind’s second sin. The first was eating from the tree and the second was blaming Eve. “The woman you gave me, she made me do it.” Actually Adam is blaming God and that has been the focus ever since. Lucifer tries his worst, he has no best, to put this whole mess at God’s door. That became more difficult for him after he murdered Jesus. At some point truth has a way of shining forth.
Living a good consistent life is the way to silence one’s accusers. No one could have been more consistent than Jesus and the Father. They have been flawless in their committed love for us. Though we call tragedies acts of God it just isn’t so. God understands old guys who try to park in strange places. God is old. That is comforting because it means there isn’t anything He hasn’t seen. He has seen it all and He loves us more than ever.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 16, 2013
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org