The Devil's Foothold
On Thursday I wrote about the four ways we can respond to fear: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Flow. Underneath the Fight response is perhaps the scariest of our own responses- anger which can turn to irrational rage. Then I looked at today's lesson from Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:25- 5:2-- Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin." Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold....

...do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Anger as the devil's foothold is perhaps because it turns people into enemies instead of people like us. Anger can fill us with rage and powerful emotions that reach out in a desire to hurt the other. How far that is from the way of Jesus! How far that is from the methods and walk of the one we are supposed to imitate!

Oh, how the Holy Spirit must grieve these days when Christians (and others!) toss such anger- and violence-filled words at others with the Name of God attached. As I had been pondering these things I went to church this morning where we had a Baptism.

It was one of those truly inspiring Baptisms. Two young brothers were being brought by their parent to become part of our fellowship. They were older than infants but still not school-aged. They both wore these white tuxedo-style outfits, were excited and intrigued by what was happening. The event was a mixed-ethnic/racial event. Hispanic, Anglo, and African-American were all involved. The father was Anglo, the mother Hispanic, the sponsors were all three.

I wanted to stand up and cheer, but nobody would have understood all of the reasons for my outburst so I just sat there smiling and allowing the Presence of the Holy Spirit in the place surround and fill me. It brought to mind this great passage from Barbara Brown Taylor's book, Leaving Church, with which I leave this post to your reflection.

At least one of the purposes of church is to remind us that God has other children, easily as precious as we. Baptism and narcissism cancel each other out…