I loved the Rev. Harry Buch’s Q&A Sunday. I’ll take this space to answer a few questions he didn’t get to each week.

The first question that really struck me was “How do we deal with all the hatred and anger in the world?”

I talked in last Sunday’s sermon about “Crappy Teenager Luke” (You can read/revisit that sermon here)  I was an angry youth. I have been told by smarter folks that “Anger is a secondary emotion.” It’s usually covering something up. For me, my anger was covering up my poor self-esteem and anxiety. It took me a long time to figure that out. When someone comes to me angry, I try to ask questions and turn my judgment into curiosity. What is this anger about? What is the emotion under this emotion?

You might have felt some anger during the pandemic. It might have been covering up your anxiety. Your stress. The helplessness of the situation. How do we deal with it? We acknowledge it, and then we go toward it. We don’t shy away from it. At least, as safe as it is to do so. I’m not going to approach a guy yelling on the street. I will approach someone who I know and love and have a relationship with. I’ll talk. I’ll ask good questions. I try to be in relationship with them.

That’s how I am trying to handle my anger and hatred. We cannot be responsible for anyone else’s anger but our own. A saying that Kate introduced me to and has helped me become less angry is, “We can’t change other people, we can only change how we react to them.” I hope by reacting not in anger and hate, but in peace and love… by telling a story, asking a question, reminding folks of relationship, we might be able to help one another become less angry. May God help us on our journey. Amen.