Where is your grounding rod?

Ever seen something get struck by lightning? Lightning is the greatest form of static electric charge. All at once, that charge is released into something at full force causing much destruction. In a fallen world, our emotions are not always helping us toward heaven. Our emotions are influenced by our perception and our perception can be altered by either God or our enemies. Many think of demonic influence as loud and horrifying, however, it is very subtle and thus horrifying. It is our mind and will which can hold us to God, therefore that is not only where our spiritual enemies aim, and frankly, it's where they have the most success. Using the harshest moments to paint a clear example, we shall consider anger and what to do about it. Is there something keeping us anchored to God, virtue, innocence, and purity of heart or not?

Stress is a normal part of life. We are most of the time not fully conformed to what is going on around us nor even open/receptive to it. There will be days in which we find ourselves feeling "a little bit more like the tracks than the train". Not just for us but for others also. Take a step back and observe the big picture. There are many people like us, and they have bad days and don't exactly know what to do about it especially at the moment. What do they do? Anyone in close proximity who they find particularly irritating may serve in some capacity as a "lightning rod " of negative emotions. Suppose that happens to be you. Clearly, sins have been committed, and even if you realize that they are just taking their stress out on you, you still are hurt by their action. This is "where the rubber meets the road". What do you do at this moment? Here are a few options: lash out as harshly as possible to hurt them so they don't do it again (bad idea), bottle it up, and deal with it later (assumes you will be able to contain it), or trust in God, offer it to Him, be charitable, and realize that if someone does something like that it is not because they are evil but hurting. 

From this bigger picture, we can notice something we can scarcely bring ourselves to see at the moment. Sin, most tangibly, in this case, brings a negative reality like a small black hole in the world, especially in its close proximity(cf. Jeremiah 14:17-20). This is a significant problem because anyone who encounters it is forcibly moved to increase the situation/damage/effect. When we encounter someone who is upset and lashing out, we are tempted to lash out ourselves. This, in part, is because we imagine ourselves as worse than others (expecting others to be perfect, or even ourselves worthy of the evil on the opposite extreme). We beat ourselves up and then when others don't meet our expectations we are all the more hurt by the act. Sin, from this perspective, can be considered like very adherent static electricity that deals great damage. Static electric charge can be acquired by merely moving past a charged object, by abrasion, and in a number of other ways. In this way, forgiveness can be seen as the greatest form of fortitude endurance and builds character(). If we don’t direct the current toward Christ or take it all for ourselves, we receive wounds. We are not perfect conductors of course so no matter what the lightning will cause wounds that hardly heal and, on account of the burns, cause us to lose the sense of what damage has really been exacted and what it takes to heal these wounds.

In conclusion, where do we go when things get hard? Do we lash out at others, turn to pleasure, let greater resentment grow? There are situations that merit later addressing, and it should be done with charity, recognizing the brokeness and hurt play. However, when things are hard and moment-to-moment, daily prayer is indispensable. God knows what it's like to have the whole world (with a few exceptions) against you, but do you bring it to Him or try to deal with it yourself. Don’t underestimate the effect sin has on us. Let us heal through Christ all that sin has damaged as a result of both our sins and those of others. Let us grow from being understanding that there are always reasons why we and others do evils for an end. We know that it is wrong all the same but also that accepting evil as Christ did we can actually bring healing to a but this is not possible without much prayer. Throughout the Christian life and especially as we grow in the spiritual life, our enemies will often do whatever it takes to undermine the good we intend to accomplish or mislead us on what good God will want for us. “To where shall [you] go, for [Christ] alone has the words of eternal life”().

Deep the wounds,
Sobering the pain,
Many the sins,
That leave us slain.

The greatest of all sacrifices,
Reaps the greatest of all prizes.
Lose one's life for one's friend?
Lose one's life because of sin?

Conquerors all are we,
If unyielding to sin we be.
No greater strife,
No other life.