An angry man stirs up strife...

Proverbs 29:2, NASB

I remember when I was a shift supervisor at Kentucky Fried Chicken while I was in college. Whenever one of my co-workers came in mad, I was ready to just send them home. The reason was that one mad person could make everybody else mad in an incredibly short time. It's rate of transmission was faster than even some of the more aggravating bugs that we have going around today.

Speaking of that, have you noticed how mad everyone seems to be? It's hard to go anywhere without someone being mad at you for just living. It's interesting how many people think that our business is their business, and the way we are handling our business makes them mad. I suppose if I were the king of the world, I would just send them home.

Since any of us being made king does not appear imminent, perhaps we should go to plan B.

Now, when I was a kid, plan B usually involved the one who was mad just going home on his own. That was fine and dandy, unless of course you were playing a game and the ball belonged to the mad kid. There's nothing worse than having an enjoyable game ruined by a mad kid who then takes his ball and goes home and ends the game prematurely. So maybe we should go to plan C.  What is plan C? I'm glad you asked!

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

II Corinthians 12:10, ESV

Plan C is learning to be content, even when people around us are not, and even when events are not to our liking! I suppose that's what I like about being with the church. I like standing at the front door to the church building and seeing people walk in with smiles on their faces. I also like standing at the front door when worship is over and seeing people walk out with even bigger smiles on their faces. Since I am the preacher, the latter makes me especially happy, even though I must admit that I am not sure if it was an encouraging message that made them happy, or just the fact that the sermon was over. Either way happiness exists, and that makes me happy. It makes me realize that the only thing more contagious than anger is love...

I suppose that may be one of the secrets to life. When we understand that our emotions are contagious, and we would rather be glad than mad, maybe we should start being the "carrier" for positive things rather than letting the angry people of this world infect us with their sour dispositions.

Just the thought of this makes me happier - I think maybe we should all try out this theory and see if it works. After all, what have we got to lose, except for a few angry men!