Anger

Steve Tran of Westminster, California, wanted to kill the cockroaches in his apartment once and for all. So, he activated 25 bug bombs (even though the label said 2 should do the trick) and closed the door. The fumes reached the pilot light of his stove and created an explosion that sent his screen door across the street, broke all his windows, and caused $10,000 dollars worth of damage.

Steve said, “I really wanted to kill all of them. I thought if I used a lot more, it would last longer.” By the way, Steve said he saw cockroaches again within a week.

In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine. The Orioles’ John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.

Two men, driving in Southern California, got into a battle of road rage after one cut the other off in a parking lot. The hot-headed men sped out of the parking lot in a fit of anger, chasing, driving recklessly, dodging and weaving in and out of traffic. They endangered a lot of lives before  one finally forced the other to careen out of control. The driver frantically tried to regain control, but in the process an innocent little girl on a nearby sidewalk was killed. A young life was taken simply because two men became needlessly angry at each other.

John Hunter was a man arrogant in demeanor and possessed a violent and ungovernable temper. He was accustomed to say, “My life is at the mercy of any scoundrel who chooses to put me in a passion.”

These words proved prophetic, for at a meeting of the board of St. George’s Hospital in London, Hunter got into a heated argument with other board members, walked out, and dropped dead in the next room.

Source: American Medical Journal, Volume 16, E. Younkin, M. D.

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

In a 1994 article, “Wars’ Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans,” Associated Press reporter Christopher Burns writes: “The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up—and sometimes blow up—at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches fifty years after the guns fell silent.

“Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said.

Many years ago a senior executive of the then Standard Oil Company made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. John D. Rockefeller was then running the firm. On the day the news leaked out most of the executives of the company were finding various ingenious ways of avoiding Mr. Rockefeller, lest his wrath descend on their heads.

In one Peanuts cartoon Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!”

Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace.”

Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.”

Source: Unknown

A young mother and her little boy were driving down the street. The little boy asked, “Mommy, why do the idiots only come out when Daddy drives?”

Source: Unknown

When a rattlesnake is cornered, sometimes it becomes so angry that it bites itself. When a man harbors hatred or bitterness in his heart he is poisoning himself just like the rattlesnake that bites itself.

Source: Reader’s Digest, May 1985

Lam Luong, a 37 year-old man, confessed that after getting angry about a dispute with his wife, he murdered his four young children by throwing them off the Dauphin Island Bridge.

Source: Foxnews.com, March 19, 2009

A lady once came to Billy Sunday and attempted to rationalize her angry outbursts. She said, “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper. I blow up, and then it’s all over.”

Mr. Sunday replied, “So does a shotgun, and look at the damage it leaves behind!”

Source: Soul Prescription, Bill Bright and Henry Brandt

Mr. Zhang, from Chongqing, China, signed a contract that allows his wife to beat him once a week. The 32-year-old Mr. Zhang is very competitive and “never wants to lose an argument.” He says the only problem is that his wife knows kung fu.

The story is told of a woman who was bitten by a mad dog. It looked as if she was going to die of rabies, so the doctor told her she should make her will. Taking her pen and paper she began to write; in fact she wrote and wrote. Finally the doctor said, “That is surely a long will you’re making.”

She snorted, “Will nothing! I’m making a list of all the people I’m going to bite!”

Source: Unknown

While checking his bags at the airport, a man became indignant with the employee who handled luggage. For several minutes he belittled the young man and criticized his every move. Surprisingly, the curbside porter didn’t seem troubled by this man’s verbal abuse. After the angry man entered the airport, a woman approached the luggage handler and asked, “How do you put up with such injustice?”

The young man said, “It’s easy. That guy’s going to New York, but I’m sending his bags to Brazil.”

Source: Unknown

In February of 2008, James Fantroy was convicted of stealing over $20,000 of government grants while he served as a City Council member in Dallas, Texas. Because Fantroy had kidney cancer and used a wheelchair, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade told him he could choose between serving a month in prison or publicly apologizing for his actions. Fantroy chose to serve a prison sentence rather than apologize.

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six-year-olds. After explaining the commandment to honor thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?”

Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Source: Unknown

Thousands of Tasmanian Devils have died from a rare type of cancer Devil Facial Tumor Disease. Scientists discovered that the cancer began in the mouth of a single devil and spread through the bites of that devil. Tasmanian Devils bite each other around the mouth very frequently, and this cancer spread through those bites. Over the course of several years, over forty percent of the Tasmanian Devil population has died because of this cancer.

A Netherlands-based electronics firm is creating a bracelet that will change color and flicker from yellow to red when a person’s emotions rise to unhealthy levels. It’s being developed chiefly for stock traders on European exchanges. When trading becomes too intense and the trader’s blood pressure rises, the device will issue a warning to, “Take a time-out, wind down or reconsider their actions,” said the manufacturer. The results, hopefully, will be beneficial to investors—to say nothing of the stock brokers themselves.

“A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.”—Franklin, Benjamin

“Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.”—Albert Einstein

“If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?”—Sydney J. Harris

“He who angers you conquers you.”—Elizabeth Kenny

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”—Ambrose Bierce
“Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”—Benjamin Franklin