How We All Can Make a Difference

We’ve all heard about NFL players, coaches and even owners taking a knee rather than standing respectfully during the National Anthem. (Since I write my posts two weeks in advance, who knows what they’ll be doing by the time this appears.) I’m not quite certain what this demonstration is all about. Basically, it boils down to their conviction that in so doing, they’re making a difference.

On that last point, I think we can all agree. We’d all like to make a difference, being able to participate in making positive changes in our very – perhaps hopelessly – fractured nation and world. The question is, what does it take to truly make a difference?

Protests, peaceful and some not so peaceful, might make participants feel like they’ve accomplished something, but increasingly these events seem more like outlets for spouting venom toward anyone with different views. They are accomplishing something – but is it positive?

Then the protests are over; after all, people have to go home and go to work. They do have to go to work, don’t they? Or take care of their families? They do, don’t they? Anyway, the protests end, but the poor are still poor, the oppressed still oppressed, the disenfranchised remain the same. What’s the end game? What has been accomplished?

Thinking about this, my friend Bryan made a good suggestion: "DO SOMETHING that really makes a difference. Be nicer to people. Treat people with respect." This goes back to following what Jesus taught nearly 2,000 years ago – loving our neighbor as ourselves, and doing for others as we would want them to do for us. If we were in dire circumstances, desperately in need of help, how would we like to be treated?

The apostle James pointed out, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?... Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical need, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

In my view, this is the problem with these protests. People get riled up, voice their complaints, and then go home, but lives of the individuals they supposedly are defending remain unchanged. Their “faith” – or at least moral conviction – stops short of engaging with and helping someone in real, tangible ways. If the time, energy and resources expended during these demonstrations were concentrated instead on doing the hard work of investing time, energy and resources in face-to-face acts of service, that would truly make a difference; a difference that can be life-changing.

Although some might disagree, no amount of posturing in any form will eradicate prejudice or insensitivity. We can't legislate hate. However, we can see lasting change take place – through changed hearts, starting with our own. Sadly, it seems evident there are forces in society that don't want that, whose agendas are advanced by inciting and sustaining anger, rage, dissension and hatred. We can stand by and let that happen, or resolve not fall in lockstep with anyone intent on stirring up humanity’s darkest elements.

When we watch the evening news, or read certain periodicals or postings on the Internet, it would appear hatred among various peoples has never been greater. But that’s not my experience or observation. I interact with people of different ethnicities and cultures often, whether at the YMCA, the mall, work, or spending time together at a restaurant. And I see others doing the same, with kindness, respect and mutual appreciation displayed openly and genuinely.

This isn’t to say there aren’t problems, because we all know there are. In some cities, more so than others. But we don’t have to be part of the problems – instead, we can choose to be part of the solutions. As one social media post wisely urged recently, “Turn off the news and love your neighbor.” Why listen to people harping about how bad things are when we can demonstrate how good things can be? That's what Jesus would do.

Anger: The ‘Feel-Good Emotion’?

A couple of weeks ago I watched a man in a drugstore launch into a tirade after discovering he had been sold the wrong brand of cigarettes and the manager wouldn’t let him exchange them for his preferred brand. The manager said it was because of some law, but the smoker wasn’t having any of it.

Frankly, I think any brand of cigarettes is the wrong brand, but that’s a different subject.

Anyway, I feared the customer would go “postal.” (Can you go postal in a drugstore?) He was mad, and his voice’s decibel level indicated he needed everyone within a two-mile radius to know his displeasure.

Can you guess that Florida Gators' head coach
Will Muschamp isn't happy? (BleacherReport photo)

Then Saturday, watching the Georgia-Florida football game, I saw the Gators’ head coach Will Muschamp almost pop a carotid artery as he berated one of his players for a mistake. I couldn’t lip-read what he was saying (and probably didn’t want to know), but the grimaces Muschamp’s face made must have taken hours in front of a mirror to perfect.

I don’t remember what provoked the coach’s anger, but at the time I wondered, “Mothers, is that the face of a man into whose tender, loving care you’ll entrust your sons while still in their formative years?”

These days everyone seems angry about something. “Tolerance” people pour waves of angry intolerance toward people they consider intolerant. TV and radio talk show commentators voice anger toward anyone not sharing their views. Parents get mad at their kids, and kids are angry at their parents.

Terrorists, of course, express hatred toward those that don’t share their ideologies. But even in private homes, anger can create terror between husband and wife.

Workplaces are hardly immune from angry displays. Furious bosses spew venom on employees that displease them, and frustrated employees increasingly vocalize and demonstrate their anger for a variety of reasons.

Why do we all seem so quick to display angry feelings? Does it make us feel good?

I’ve been prone to anger myself, but time has taught me the wisdom of choosing to not let off steam. Like a rapidly forming tornado, outbursts of anger appear and subside quickly, but leave fearsome paths of damage in their wake.

Maybe that’s why the Bible, particularly the book of Proverbs, has much to say about anger and its dangers:

“A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult” (Proverbs 12:16).

“As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife” (Proverbs 26:21).

“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control” (Proverbs 29:11).

In the classic film “Network,” actor Peter Finch’s newsroom character urges viewers to go to their windows, open them and shout, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Well, that might make us feel better, venting pent-up emotions, but what does it solve?

Better to follow this advice: “A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel” (Proverbs 15:18). Angry words and actions aren’t the path to peace.