The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1916-10-06
Be SLOW TO anger
Righteous Indignation Justified,
but Resentment of Injury
Serves Little Purpose.

'He is forbearing and OF abundant
mercy."-ExOdus 35, 6.
FOrbear, forgive, forget.
Three little words that help to build
great happiness.
Three little words that mean great
victory.
Three little words that prove US
worthy of great privilege.
The great happiness which these sim
pie words build is the happiness Of
peace. The victory they mean is vic
tory over ones self. And the great
privilege which they gain for us is the
privilege of being through our con-
Duct adjudged worthy sons and daugh-
tiers Of the Heavenly Father Of us all.
Men anger as. We are human and
therefore we resent. But every time
we resent we lower ourselves to the
level Of him who offends us; we lose
our own self-respect, which is a valu-
able asset we raise the offender to the
opinion that he is worth noticing,
which he may desire but which we are
frequently unwilling to concede; we
provoke by our act or. word of resent
ment future or further offense, which
win only mean more anger or resent
ment on our part; we fail to convince
the offender that he has wronged us,
and our failure to do so means posi-
bly, our modification and certainly a
loss of our nervous energy wasted up
on one who is not worthy of the ex-
penditure.
Like most human emotions, anger or
resentment can be holy or unholy.
1t Is holy when directed against
wrong that perils life In serious direc-
lions. For such wrong may near
grave consequences.
Righteous Anger Justified.
There Is such a thing as righteous
anger. Witness the anger which d.
rected the determination of the Can
aanite nations so persistently guilty Of
the grossest immorallties, which, under
the guise of worship, meant mans ply
steal, mental and moral deterioration
and death.
But we speak of ordinary life as we
ordinary human beings live 1t. We are
too often angry and resentful unneces-
sarily and unrighteously. We are too
quick to take offense. We resent an
grily when "sof. answer" would turn
aside the wrath" and we thereby DEM
onstrate that LANCER resteth In the
bosom Of FOOLS" among whom there is
no need for US to be numbered. II all
means our annoyance. ANY annoyance,
even when caused by q pin-prick,
means a disturbance of our happiness.
If we can overcome our pride, con-
quer our anger, subdue our resentment,
It means that we gain great victory
over the less worthy self and that the
more worthy self, the "better self"
within us, Is mightier. That will mean
our peace of mind and therefore our
happiness.
After all, no man Is infalllble. And
we are only men. Offense is oft the
child Of our own fault-Or folly.
He is a wise man that recognizes
when he Is foolish. He's wise man
that applies TO himself Jobs satire,
wisdom win die with you" and give
credit to his offender for at least lit
tie wisdom and possibly more right!
Forbear, forgive and forget. Who
has not felt all the better for doing so?
Forhearanee Always Well,
And 1t is just by forbearing, forgiv-
ing and forgetting that we prove our
selves worthy Of high privilege, worthy
Of our privilege Of being sons and
daughters Of the good father Of all Of
us. For he is forbearing and forgiv-
ing and gracously forgets.
II he finds that our faults, whereby
we offend him, are Just human weak
nesses that we honestly try to correct;
II he finds that we are sincerely trying
for %change Of heart" he win for
bear, forgive and forget. He only de-
sires that we shall return to the right
way. He takes no delight In Furnishing
or infiicting penalty. 'In our sorrows
he SORROWS" as the prophet teaches
us.
Let us therefore try to lead those
who offend us to a change Of heart. Let
us try to correct the causes Of their
offending us. We can do so by tactful
response, by soft answer, instead of by
angry word, or by angry tone, which is
even worseI
1t is only when truth, righteousness
and honor are involved that our anger
becomes righteous anger and our re-
sentiment becomes excusable.
Human RssnoneihlIifv