The Key Place by Gene Shelburne

Author:Gene Shelburne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leafwood Publishers
Published: 2015-06-09T04:00:00+00:00

What do we do when the bitter wrangling over seemingly unsolvable issues rages on and on, so that our souls no longer can rest?

Sometimes it’s tempting to follow Thoreau to Walden Pond and pretend that the real world with its jangling, jarring controversies doesn’t exist. Sometimes, when the spiritual static gets too crackly to endure, we understand what drove those ancient Essenes to pack up their families and move out into the Judean desert to live in total isolation from governments and schools and religious hierarchies.

Wouldn’t it be grand some days just to drop out of the whole mess—to retreat to some deserted South Sea island and let the world take care of its own imponderables from now on?

But Paul Harvey was right when he used to say, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” Not if you have an ounce of mercy or compassion or thoughtfulness in you. Not if you’re hooked up with a sense of responsibility and love for your fellowman.

The Scriptures tell us that we fulfill everything God tries to tell us in his laws when we bear one another’s burdens. Part of doing that surely involves coming to grips with the critical issues that threaten the survival and quality of life of us all. Certainly, though, there must be some way for us to keep from burning our hands and searing our souls when we take hold of the hottest topics that polarize our generation.

Famous authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien had a lesser-known writer friend named Charles Williams. Together they became the most famous members of a fellowship of friends which these sharp-witted penmen dubbed “the Inklings.” The lesser-known member of this grand trio may have put his finger on one answer to my concerns here when he wrote, “Holy anger is a very dangerous thing indeed for anyone who isn’t a saint to play with.”

Even in the most ancient days people felt compelled to struggle with issues so grave that they often described themselves as wrestling with the gods. The struggle is nothing new. But the intensity of emotional heat—especially the quickness and fierceness of the anger involved—does appear to be a new ingredient in today’s public discourse. The civility that once characterized even the verbal exchanges of sworn enemies has vanished for the most part, and spokesmen on every hand—in pulpits, on the political dais, and the TV anchor desk—adopt the tone of righteous indignation. And we who get drawn into their debates find ourselves seething inwardly with wrath, for which we seldom can identify a legitimate target.

Williams was right. “Holy anger” poses a dire threat to those of us who are mere mortals. Listen to an hour of almost any radio talk show or eavesdrop on just about any coffee klatch at the local donut shop and you will come away convinced that such anger is in abundant over-supply today. All around

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