Why is there so much contention everywhere? Lately I have noticed there is a prevalent amount of contention that fills the air, whether in the media, the neighborhood, or the office, it's everywhere!
Why so much striving and working ones self into such a frenzy to squabble over such trivia? There are some things not worth fighting over at the expense of peace. Some people simply like to pick a fight, while some like to engage...some people feel a dire need to be right, while some feel the need to resist...
Once the fire is kindled, it grows so swiflty; it rises and spreads with no one snuffing it out, until eventually it can no longer be contained. Once inflamed, it eats up the inner heart of the one in whose bosom it was ignited; it rages out of control to the point that any reason brought forth to extinguish it becomes engulfed by it. Reason becomes as a droplet of water among the wildfire in a forest and that during the hottest season and after a long drought. A path of ruin and great devastation remains where once this fire ran its course.
A fool only would put himself in the path of an angry man, one full of such ire and rage. I will not be that fool! I will not put myself in a futile situation where the sole outcome resulting would be to get burnt. Instead, I will let this flame consume itself until at last it can consume nothing more, and must, for lack of fuel on which to feed, extinguish itself.
Such contention must be so wearisome, so tiresome! How can one find peace and rest when the heart is stirred into such a frenzy? Where can one find solace, when the soul and mind is so disquieted?
Thursday, November 29, 2007
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3 comments:
This is foretold as being the condition of the world in the last days. There is no way to change it, as far as others are concerned, but, remember, each of us has the responsibility as to how we act & what we think. & who knows...... maybe it will have an effect on someone else. Someone that we don't even see or, at least, recognize as being instrumental in their lives.
You see it so much more than the rest of us because of where you live & work right now, but it is all over the world, I'm afraid.
"Such contention must be so wearisome, so tiresome! How can one find peace and rest when the heart is stirred into such a frenzy? Where can one find solace, when the soul and mind is so disquieted?"
You KNOW where to go....... God is the only answer. ..... For Peace in the storm, for Rest & Solace, too.
There IS no other place & never will be.
“…A fool only would put himself in the path of an angry man, one full of such ire and rage…”
Why is it that sometimes one finds oneself in that path, despite every effort to avoid it? What does one do when that “angry man” comes charging down upon you like a firestorm: elemental and fierce, inescapable in its breadth and appetite?
Should one feel as the fool - unable or incapable of sidestepping the anger, for remaining on the path - or simply foolish for having been in the path to begin with?
How does one respond to the raging tempests that pummel even the strongest? Return the anger in kind, hoping to justify the action when the storm passes? Answer with sincerity, kindness and meekness, attempting to negate the rage with love and caring? Stand behind built up spiritual and emotional bulwarks as an entrenched army inside of a fortress?
How many times can one justify one’s own anger? How does one balance love and kindness in the face of ire and rage when bitterness inevitably wells up inside? Why are fortress walls built when even the thickest and sturdiest walls will be breached in time?
True, only a fool would put himself in this path, jump in front of an oncoming train as it were. But what of those who find themselves mired, unable to move out of the way? How often, it seems, I am not fast enough, wise enough nor insightful enough to do so….
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The analogy of a wildfire, a true “firestorm,” is so fitting and apt. I have seen first hand the devastation that wildfires cause: they are uncaring, mindless, soulless, sweeping over everything in their path, consuming all to the bones, leaving nothing in their wake of destruction.
Optimists argue that wildfires clear away overgrown areas, allowing for new growth. This is true in a sense, yet the result will be a temporarily diminished semblance of what was before: mature trees destroyed, rocks blackened, lone chimney stacks of consumed homes, all charred skeletons that remain for a time amongst the new saplings and grasses. Scars in the land from mudslides and erosion become permanent reminders of the true change a wildfire creates by stripping off the protective layer of growing things, exposing the earth to the weather.
I have also seen the change in the land, in seasons past after being swept by a firestorm. Yes, there is amazement and thankfulness that anything could grow again where it seemed the fire once destroyed everything, but also a realization that the face of the land has been permanently changed. Whether the change is for the good, the bad or just indifferent may not be readily apparent, but change has occurred.
To tie this in with the theme of being in the path of rage, consider this: Wildfires often follow a somewhat predictable path. They only burn where there is a proper mix of fuel and air, they most often occur during the dry seasons and fires are normally propelled in front of prevailing wind patterns. In other words, we know where they may occur, when they may occur and how they may travel.
Rocks, trees, bushes and grasses, being inanimate objects or living things with nothing that passes for intelligence, have little or no choice in their location or where they grow. Yet, knowing what we know about wildfires, man still builds homes in the potential paths of these uncontrollable events. He weighs the risks and makes the choice to put himself in this path. The benefits of his choice could be a beautiful vista, solitude, a home and living space that achieves a purpose beyond being a mere abode. He keeps the overgrowth cleared, uses flame-retardant building materials and strictly controls the use of fire in the area.
As we have seen time and time again, however, these preventive steps often prove to be of no avail when the firestorms come. It seems the only sure way the destruction could have been avoided was to not risk building where fire may travel.
But to not risk! To relinquish choice because of even a hint of a poor outcome! This goes against man’s very nature. To build a home on the shifting sands of a tidal flat, or in a mountain canyon that experiences annual avalanches: this is foolish beyond doubt. But build where a fire might occur, stand where anger might rage, that is a risk. Some may consider it a foolish risk; others may see it as a choice that delivers benefits. Surely, a firestorm may sweep over, leaving behind pain, loss and permanent scars, yet optimistically, the pain and loss will recede, and scars covered, or perhaps adorned, by new growth.
To lock away the choice in one’s own heart at the expectations of others, to surrender one’s own expectations because of risk – does this not cause contention within one’s own being? Not taking a risk will not assuage the contention, but only create a new one.
As for being in the path of an angry man (or woman, as the case may be)? That is an issue for which an answer continues to be searched for….
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