Unless you aren’t human or happen to really live under a rock, you’ve been upset over the news coming out of Israel. Slaughtering civilians is not freedom fighting and no one is stupid enough to mistake it for anything other than the horrible evil it actually is. Even the YouTube ‘friendly’ videos are more than enough to enrage a saint and to break any normal human heart.
I didn’t tackle this directly until now because I was still getting the nastier tendencies out of my system. The cat got an earful but she can’t affect international policy or convince her congressman that we need to do something we can’t take back. Our congressman doesn’t take her calls anymore anyway. So I bounced all my enraged, vengeful and moronic ideas off her at full volume.
My cat thinks I’m insane and I ended up giving her an extra can of the special food to make up for it.
Some of you understand. You’ve had that conversation with the windshield that no human ever need hear and apologized to God after it was over. They say sometimes you just have to ‘express yourself’ to get those feelings under control. I see no reason why we need express all that’s worst in ourselves to others. I’m kinda regretting letting the cat hear me.
But if that fury and pain need release, then go ahead and have it out with the bathroom mirror. Toss the pillow as hard as you can onto the bed. Bury your face in that pillow and cry and scream.
Just don’t take it out on anyone else.
Also, don’t take it out on your congressman.
I know, calling your congressman is never anyone’s first thought. But your Federal representative is the guy that can have an impact. Yes, really.
I’ll skip the formal stuff. Basically, the president can act independently up to a point then either Congress has to declare war or at least set up funding for whatever ‘military action’ we’re involved in or about to be. Funding may be boring but it is very powerful.
I know, everyone thinks Congress is ‘unresponsive’. It’s not. It’s a lot more like training a cat. The cat doesn’t try to figure out what you want. The cat just figures out what you do. If annoying the daylights out of you gets a treat, congratulations, you just trained your cat to annoy you. Just remember, the cat is smarter than the average congressman.
Congressmen spend most of their time getting their job and getting the next contract extension. It’s a function of the two year election cycle that representatives are almost constantly campaigning, but senators, even with their six year terms, aren’t far behind. As a result if constituents don’t make themselves heard loud and clear, congressmen, like that cat, react to what you do, not what you say.
If you vote for the party, that’s all you get.
Right now, I guarantee, congressmen are getting an earful. People are angry. Raw emotion prompts action and some folks will pick up that phone.
Anger is not very smart. Have you ever done anything you are really proud of while you were furious? No? Me neither. Anger is a great motivator, but a lousy designer.
Your congressman is hearing that anger from your fellow constituents. What policies are they demanding? If they are anything like me, none that are likely to do anything good.
See, they have no better idea what to do than anyone else right now. It’s the anger talking. It’s completely understandable, but it’s also a really bad idea.
What are our choices?
Well, for we Christians, the first thing is to pray. For mercy, for justice, for wisdom, for guidance and for help using our passion wisely, to help instead of hurt. While we’re at it, pray for those who will be making these terrible decisions, that they will chose good over evil, wisdom over anger, God over revenge. Those are tough choices to make when we’re justifiably angry which is why we need God’s help, strength and leadership all the more.
Next up, call that congressman of yours and let him know you expect him to do what’s right and to govern wisely. If appropriate, let him know you’re praying for him. Call or write the President with the same message. If you have a good suggestion, add it. If not, just let your representatives know what you expect and that you support them so long as they try to do what’s right and exercise wisdom.
No, those things aren’t easy. If you don’t want a tough job, don’t run for Congress, let alone President.
The next option is to donate wisely. Lots of scams will show up – if you’re over the age of ten you know this. Donate to the groups that have a track record and that get most of their money to where it’s needed. Yes, that means checking out the charity you’re donating to or only using charities you already trust. I know, grown up is hard, but donating to scammers doesn’t help the people you want to help. So, yeah, you have to read the About Us page and do a little searching to make sure that post in your feed is from a legit and a good charity.
Also, you can stay informed – but don’t wallow. You do NOT need to see video of atrocities. It’s enough to have reliable reports of what happened. You do not need 24/7 coverage of events unless you live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC or happen to be one of the Joint Chiefs. We pay those guys well so they can afford the mental health care they will need afterwards. You don’t need to become a basket case. It’s enough to stay well informed. One good news source a day is plenty. We need more sanity, not less.
Finally, do what you need to – that doesn’t hurt anyone else – to deal with those raw emotions. Danged things will be back, especially as events unfold. You control them, not the other way around. Scream at the cat if you need to. Cat therapy is cheap – a couple extra cans of Fancy Feast and they’re fine – so yell until you have it under control.
Then do what you can.
