What Filter Do You Use?

We use all kinds of filters today for mechanical things, water, coffee, headphones, health, etc. Think about this list and what their filtering does. It’s important, because each device filters out the bad things that can shut down those devices, included we humans. Just imagine the filtering this past year in pandemic—those masks helped and continue to help keep us safe from a deadly virus!

What does your heart, mind and soul use for a “filter” from the evil, the anger, and violence we encounter in our world today? The joy of being God’s beloved children is the most precious gift, but that doesn’t keep us from the outside world. Believer or non-believer, we all share one not-so-good quality: a core of sin that we cannot overcome on our own. Even those of us with faith struggle with this ‘sin-condition.’

I love this quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. In other words it’s a level playing field for all of us. Thankfully, our faith in God reminds us that one day all things will be made new. Until then…what do we do with so many angry people—including ourselves? How did we find ourselves in the anger room?

One point to remember is our propensity to “converse with others behind a cell phone, computer or email.” We’ve created a distance between one another and that desensitizes people. A pastor blogger I know says it this way: “It’s easier to shoot you online when I can’t see you.” The curse of our technology is that we’ve never been more connected than we are today…but…for many folks, we’ve never felt more alone.

Technology brings us wisdom on the spot. We have more knowledge than ever before but with that comes another not-so-good outcome: cynicism, and believe me cynicism is rooted in knowledge. Most psychologists will tell you from their patients’ experiences that the more you know, the more cynical you become and you wind up depressed, alone, and on the doctor’s couch!

Why were so happy when we were kids—we didn’t know the world up close and person. We were exploring the wonderment of things. You could say that old quote “ignorance is bliss” and maybe that wasn’t so bad after all. Yet, we have to grow up and mature—oi vey.

What flashes on our news constantly—ANGER! It always gets noticed over acts of kindness. Ever witness an angry outburst in a restaurant or family gathering, etc—it’s like E.F. Hutton’s famous commercial, the room goes silent so they can listen but listening to anger will never soothe one’s soul. Ask a bartender trying to break up a fight!

How do we tackle this anger thing? Ask yourself what motive drives you to choose anger when it isn’t something you normally would do. It’s interesting that in America we all want to have anything to keep us young, healthy and looking good, but truth be revealed is anger will keep us from that outlook. Anger turns health, inner and out beauty and our actions into messes of evil, hurt and a lot of pain.

Anger often comes out of “my opinion—and it’s always right!” Barna’s quote from a pew poll was summed up like this: “Often we think the world needs our opinion and they need it right now, but that just isn’t true because often, in haste, we can be wrong and our opinions can hurt others and ourselves.” How true that i. Friends what we need is a filter!

Perhaps you are like me—I love to grind my coffee beans and I’m picky about just the right filter because my coffee tastes better. And when my coffee—the elixir of morning life I so savor—is tasty it makes my day. The joy is like a shield against those angry moments or arguments that plague me from social media to the news, ugh.

Like my coffee filter, I think one of the best shields against anger is taking a breath and using that old adage, “count to 10.” Perhaps in this angry world today we should count to at least 75! But it’s what we do after our breath-pause that truly makes the difference. We must take this anger to God in prayer, and see where God’s wisdom takes us. That pause, that prayer—that is our Holy Spirit FILTER, who works in and through us to bring us to maturity as a loving child of God. Imagine the good that would come out of a pause and a prayer and a new infilling of the Spirit?!

When your mind wanders to anger, or your mouth or your writing comes from the wrong emotions, use this filter and ask yourself: “Is this helpful to others? Is it inspiring, is it filled with the love of Christ and laced with grace?” If not, re-boot, re-write, or toss it. We all want folks to know “what we know” — not going to happen unless it is done with grace and truth and for sure a dose of humility and mercy.

Imagine how your car would run without an air and oil filter? That’s what happens to each of us when anger spurts and our filter is gone. I’ll end this Hump Day thought with a Scripture and a quote I so love:

Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding;      a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.

-Proverbs 14:29  –The Message