“. . . first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. . . “

Today’s Gospel message is a call to reconciliation but what if the person we feel anger toward is God?

First of all, it is important to recognize that our emotions are a God-given gift, an essential aspect of our humanity. Jesus wept at Lazarus’ death; He delighted in being invited to Zacchaeus’ house; and He became angry with the Jewish leaders and the money changers.

Our emotions are a physical response to the way we interpret life’s events. They are neither right nor wrong; they are simply a by product of how we think. It is our thoughts, and not the events themselves, that dictate how we feel about them. And it is the way in which we pray that dictates how we think about our problems.

God expects us to get angry when life hands us a lemon. Anger is a normal, healthy response when we feel hurt, cheated or frustrated. Properly expressed, it can motivate us to act and change the situation for the better. God wants us to vent, get it out of our system and move on with our lives.

But, errors in thinking can lead us to overreact and blame God for our misfortunes. Once that happens, we begin to see our selves as hopeless, helpless victims. A classic example of this type of irrational thinking would be discounting all our blessings and focusing on the negative. “Why me, God?” we might ask. “What did I ever do to deserve this?” But we might just as well ask, “Why me, God - - what did I ever do to deserve all the blessings you have showered on me?”

The question that we need to bring to prayer is not “Why?” but “What?” . . .  as in “What am I to learn from this?” and “What good can come from this?”

When Candy Lightner’s 13-year-old daughter Cari was killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver, she promised herself that something good would come out of her personal tragedy. She used her anger in a positive way to create MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

In 1993, the kidnapping and killing of 12-year old Poly Klas left many asking why it had happened. But Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, asked asked what he could do to make sure it didn’t happen again. He became a child advocate and established the KlaasKids Foundation. Today, he makes himself available to parents of kidnapped children and is a frequent guest on network TV shows.

In 2009, actor John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, lost their 16-year old son Jett, to a fatal  seizure disorder. But they were surrounded by close friends and found a way to turn their painful loss into a blessing for others by establishing a research foundation in their son’s name.

The only thing worse than a tragic, senseless loss is blaming God for it and turning our back on Him at the very time when we need Him most.

If life hands you a lemon, ask God to help you make lemonade.