frustration w/ fissures

below is an older post that i forgot to post...


Ughhh. Just spent the past hour reading about....Politics....





I think what's most frustrating to me is the anger. So much anger. The candidates are angry with the current administration and with each other's claims. The republicans are angry with the democrats. The Obama supporters are angry with the Clinton supporters. The bloggers are angry with the print/visual press. Readers are angry with the bloggers writings...so on and so on.





People consider me angry yet the anger is bothering me. Hmmm. There's something in that...





I once was told that anger is a secondary emotion; a response to another emotion. I've found that to be true in my life. If one of my kids acts up in a public place I may react in anger but what I'm really feeling is embarrassment. If someone cuts me off driving I may react in anger but I'm really hurt that they didn't put my needs/desires ahead of theirs. It may be simplistic, but I think the anger in politics stems from an embarrassment of losing.





Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right. What I see is a bunch of adults that are more concerned about winning than helping. I'm afraid it's the American way. Maybe it's more fair to say, it's what America has become. That saddens me and encourages me at the same time. It saddens me because, well, it's just sad that we adults can't act in a more mature manner. It encourages me in that maturity is something that comes with time; it can be learned. At our core we're all a bunch of selfish children trying to get what's best for us. It's maturity that allows us to see the short-sightedness of that. Maturity gives us the ability to look long term, to look past ourselves to see what will really give us the greatest sense of satisfaction.



The anger is all around us. It's in our personal relationships, our families, our jobs, our churches, our communities. I guess we just all need to grow up. I read something recently, can't remember who it was who said it but they were resting the knowledge that we don't know. Think about it. As uncomfortable as it is for me, uptight and anal, I CAN rest in the fact that I don't know something. That's not an excuse for laziness or complacency. It's rest. I don't have to know everything. I will never know everything. It's crazy to think that I ever would. God gave me (and most of the population) an incredible mind that's capable of more than I will ever know, but I'm not God. While the pursuit of knowledge is good, the obsession of it can't be. The obsession to gain knowledge can't be. I had to say that twice to make sure it stuck.