I don’t know if you have heard but we have an election coming up in a couple months.  Hopefully, this news is not surprising to you.  I believe that this is a cause for many people to be on edge.  Also, for the past six months we have been wrestling with a pandemic.   This has contributed to people being on edge as well.   One thing I have noticed over the past few years, and particularly the past six months is the rising tension felt in the air. 

I have heard of people’s tires being slashed presumably because of a bumper sticker endorsing a candidate.  I have heard of people’s yard signs being stolen or destroyed.   The news shares stories of fights breaking out because people were told to wear a mask, or some other breach of etiquette.  This has me concerned.  I’m afraid to correct anyone, or ask them to comply to store policies.   I thought I read that the CDC was recommending that people don’t confront other people. 

While I was on vacation, I snuck into my office and checked the answering machine.  The phone in my office has its own line, and the phone number is a direct line to my office only.  I noticed the light flashing on my machine, so I thought I’d give the messages a quick listen.   Someone called the office and left a very angry and disturbing message complete with profanity and a threat.  Apparently, someone had called their number and as soon as they answered, they hung up.  It appears as though it came from my office phone number, because they called the number back that called them.   Again, I am the only one who uses that phone, and I was on vacation. 

I felt guilty.  I felt like I had somehow wronged this poor soul, and I needed to apologize.  I wanted to call them and say, “Hey, it wasn’t me.  There must be some mix up.  My phone line has been hacked.”  (I don’t even know if that is a thing.)  But then it hit me.  This person is very angry, and I don’t think trying to reason with him is going to work out well.   I could state my case—but he is still going to be a very angry person.   

Is there a single incident that makes someone live an angry life?  If someone cuts you off on the road- you get angry.  If someone is speeding down your road, you may get angry.  But I think, that anger quickly vanishes.  It is the cumulative effect of anger that creates the problem.  It’s not the one car that cut you off or sped down your road.  It is the fact that people are always speeding, or you have had a miserable day and this one incident is the breaking point.  Perhaps my office phone message came from a person who has been wrestling with phone scams, or just learned that he is being audited by the IRS.  

How far do we have to be pushed until we have an irrational response?  Anger is real.  Even the most laid back of us can be pushed to a breaking point.  Yes, even Jesus was pushed to flipping over a few tables.   I am sure that the vendors and moneychangers felt that threatened by the experience.  They probably thought that Jesus was being irrational.  Jesus does lose his cool at other times as well.  

What can be done about the epidemic of anger?   Don’t display your anger?  Smile and laugh and put on a good front?   Of course, you’re angry.  There is a lot to be angry about.  We all get angry.  But there is a difference between rational and irrational anger.   I am trying to understand the difference.  I am trying to not trigger irrational anger in others.  I am trying to avoid situations that will trigger irrational anger in myself.  I try to adjust my thinking to come to terms with people who are being irrational.  They may be having a really bad day.  They may be having a really bad year! 

I don’t know when the tension that is in the air will dissipate.  It won’t dissolve with an election.  It won’t dissolve when there is a vaccine.   I think things will calm down when we collectively discover empathy.  I believe that compassion is key.   If we have a window into the world of another person, we can better understand the ‘why’ behind their actions.   In order to see into their world, we have to ask, and discuss.  Both sides need to dialogue.  There are two great expressions that sum up the problem; ‘a penny for thoughts,’ and ‘let me give you my two cents.’  We may think our thoughts are worth twice as much as somebody else’s.