I'm not angry.

If the pundits are to be believed, a big dynamic in this year's election is the angry American. That's the emotion Trump is said to have tapped, and it explains the behavior at many of his rallies. Bernie Sanders connected with the same emotion on the other side of the political spectrum. I heard a host say this morning that we're angry at the elite, at the political class, and at the wealthy. We're mad that they have power they use for their advantage while we're stuck, with no hope that next year will be better than 2016.

Mad at the political class? I can see that, and it does explain the popularity of an undisciplined misogynistic egotist who shows no command of basic issues, but can lay claim to being an outsider.
He brags about being stinking rich, and though he doesn't say how, he promises to make us rich, too. We'll get jobs back and void treaties that give unfair economic benefits to trading partners.

Mad at the elite? I'm not sure who they are, but if that refers to celebrities I'm not seeing it. We seem more fascinated than ever with Kardashians, Hollywood stars, rock stars, and weirdos who live in the Alaskan wilderness or with a whole group of fringe personalities on a desert island.

Mad at the wealthy? Yeah, I get that, too. Bernie railed against the 1%, portraying them as vultures feeding on the common man while they use their privilege to escape the tax burden the rest of us bear. "The system is stacked in favor of the uber-rich at the expense of the secretary and the line worker."

Maybe it's due in part to my current re-reading of Robinson Crusoe where in the later chapters he comes to realize how blessed he is to have everything he needs...living alone for decades on a small island out in the middle of nowhere with no hope of rescue. He thanks God for his gracious provision of food, shelter, and safety. Crusoe wasn't angry at anyone, especially at the God who, he recognized, put him on that island.

If the analysts are right and this is the year of the angry voter it highlights a problem with the American people more than with the wealthy, the politicians, and the elite. The ethos of entitlement has spread so broadly that for too many Americans, more than enough is not enough. We have bigger houses, newer cars, better cell phones, and more stuff than any generation before us and we're still not content.

Contentment.

It's a core value of the believer's ethos. Christ said, "Be content with your wages" (Lk. 3:14) and Paul wrote, "if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content" (1 Tim. 6:8). Not that contentment is an easy place to reach; it was a state Paul had to learn (Phil. 4:11). I come to it by considering at some length what I have instead of what I don't have, and that "every good and perfect gift comes from above" (Jas. 1:17). Contentment is an acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God who is therefore responsible for my state, and the goodness of God who has blessed me far beyond my needs.

Contentment and anger over my disadvantages relative to others are inconsistent traits. Yes, I can and should be angry at injustices, but for the toll they take on others, not on me. If I look within and see anger at the man, or at the system, or at anyone I think has it better than I do, I am denying either God's sovereignty or his goodness, or both.

I'm not angry. And if 2017 is as good as 2016 I'll be thrilled and thank God for his great blessings. Life on Baker Rd. is wonderful, even after engraver beetles, arthritis, and uncooperative trucks. We have each other, a beautiful setting, a white trash single-wide that doesn't leak after 13" of rain, plenty of firewood (!), all the eggs we can eat, and soon, D.V., some goats that will stock a freezer with delicious meat.

I choose to reject the notion that I deserve more, and that others who have more - more stuff, more power, more privilege - are the opposition. I choose to work at learning contentment, even when those who want my vote seek to get it by telling me I should expect more out of the future. And my continuing education on contentment will proceed today as I practice the discipline of thankfulness for all God has given Pam and Craig here on Baker Rd.

T'ank you, Fadder.