Gentleness

Stradivarius musical instruments are renowned worldwide as some of the greatest ever shaped by the hand of man. Of the roughly 1,000 violins, cellos, guitars, and others that Antonio Stradivari created in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, only 650 exist today and are only played by world-class musicians.

So, you’d think people might be careful with them.

According to an official at Spain’s Royal Palace in Madrid, a Stradivarius cello worth more than $20 million has been damaged. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo explained that the prized cello broke after falling off a table during a photo shoot.

No details were released as to how the cello fell off the table, in what manner it was damaged or the identity of the butterfingers who dropped it. But according to the report, a piece that joins the neck to cello’s body broke and fell off. According to the Daily Mail, the palace official said the broken piece was a replacement installed in the 19th century and will be repaired.

Possible Preaching Angle:

You'd think that when you're dealing with something that valuable, you'd treat it according to its incredible worth. But unfortunately, this is how some spouses treat each other. One command in Scripture says, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” (1 Pet. 3:7).

One can never truly predict the ways in which an act of kindness can reverberate.

When Emelia Epstein heard that her sister Helena was nervous as she prepared to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), she knew what she had to do. Emelia had taken the same test three years prior, and wanted to offer to Helena the same words that had given her comfort, calm, and determination back then.

Emilia had received a standard voicemail reminder from the testing agency, “Come confident and well prepared. Miss Emilia, this is what you studied for, this is what you worked hard for.” But the woman didn’t stop there:

Bring your best girl confidence. Bring your best girl magic. It’s called girl power. Girl power is the best power, ain’t nothing better than that! So, put in your head that this is what you want. Don’t come nervous. Because when you have to do something for work, you’re not nervous. ... So just come the same way as if you were coming for work. And just tell yourself, ‘I worked hard for this.’ Other than that, honey, I will see you tomorrow in the afternoon. And come with a smile because I’ll have one already. Have a great evening.

That voicemail had been such a great balm of encouragement for Emelia, that she’d kept it for three years. So, when Helena called her feeling nervous, Emelia shared them with her sister over FaceTime.

Helena said, “I’m not a good test taker. I was feeling stressed and under a lot of pressure. I thought [the voice mail] was so sweet.”

The next morning, Helena decided to share the message of encouragement with her followers on TikTok. Not only did it end up amassing over six million views and 14,000 comments, but sparked an effort to locate the woman who offered those encouraging words, who identified herself only by her first name, Tameka.

Before long, Tameka Rooks heard from a colleague about the viral video. She initially thought she was being pranked, but when she saw the video, she was shocked. “It was just unbelievable,” said Tameka. “And to see that so many people had already seen it by the time I found out! The world knew before I did.”

Helena eventually got Tameka’s contact info, and called her directly to share her appreciation for the encouragement. As part of their conversation, Tameka shared her motivation for sharing those words, which were typical in all her reminder calls, “The goal is to not be nervous. It’s a lot of money [to take the exams]. So, I’m just trying to push you. You might be my next doctor. I might need your help one day.”

Sharing a Christian worldview with others can often create tense situations. Especially when we are talking with friends and family who do not share our views.

A "Profile" article in The New Yorker spotlighted Ross Douthat, a popular Times columnist. The title of the article is noteworthy: "The Believer: Ross Douthat's Theories of Persuasion." Douthat is a conservative leaning Catholic who is a pro-lifer and an advocate for traditional marriage.

How does he negotiate working with colleagues whose views are radically different from his own? The article offers one example that might be instructive.

In 2015, Douthat wrote a piece critical of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage, expressing concern that it reflected a "more relaxed view of marriage's importance." Before releasing it, he thought of Michael Barbaro. Barbaro has been a close friend of Douthat's since childhood. He refers to himself as Douthat's "sidekick." And Barbaro was married to a man. Barbaro recalls:

We hadn't been in touch that much, but Ross reached out to me to say, “I'm about to publish a column in which I come out against same-sex marriage. I want you to know that it didn't come to me easily. It's something I know may be sensitive to you. And, as somebody I care about, I want you to understand it. I don't want you to read about it in my column without us talking about it.”

When Barbaro shared how much he appreciated the note, Chotiner, the New Yorker reporter conducting the interview, was surprised, Barbaro should have been furious! Why wasn't he? Barbaro explained:

I was wounded by the position he took on a personal level. How could I not be? But it was meaningfully tempered by the reality that I knew where he was coming from, and that he had gone to the trouble to reach out to me.

Barbaro and his husband later divorced. When Chotiner interviewed him, Ross was on vacation with his wife and two children. He shared, "I've been on a long journey that I know Ross generally approves of. But, although I didn't do it for him, it's very funny, as I have had children, I can just sense his glee. It's no secret that he wants people to have children and to enter into monogamous heterosexual relationships." Barbaro let out a laugh. "And that wasn't my plan, but I have sensed his joy at that outcome."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Part of the pressure of sharing our Christian worldview comes from our mistaken belief that we must convince others of our views. But our job is much simpler than all that. We are called only to speak the truth in love. And you'd be surprised at how persuasive that simple act can be.

The San Diego City Council has unanimously voted to restrict public access to Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach, a popular sea lion rookery, in an effort to protect the marine mammals from harassment. The decision follows increasing incidents of visitors crossing barriers and engaging in risky behavior with the sea lions.

Phillip Musegaas, the executive director for the San Diego Coastkeeper, highlighted the potential dangers of human-sea lion interactions, particularly during the pupping season. According to him, such interactions can lead to aggressive behavior from the sea lions or the abandonment of their young. The Council's decision aims to maintain a balance between public access and wildlife protection, allowing recreational ocean activities while preventing disturbances to the sea lions like petting or posing for photos.

City Council member Joe LaCava stressed the significance of preserving the unique coastal experience for visitors while safeguarding the natural environment. The decision to restrict access is not only aimed at protecting the sea lions but also ensuring the safety of visitors. With concerns about the rocky terrain and the potential risks of falling, the commission aims to prevent accidents. With the new mandate empowering rangers to enforce violations, there is a collective recognition of the need to protect both the sea lions and visitors alike.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Creation; Stewardship; Environmentalism — The God of the universe has given us the great task of caring for our planet. We have an operating manual for our planet right in front of us in the Bible, and we must allow that manual to change our thinking and behavior. How are we taking care of the earth that God put in our care?

Near the end of the Civil War, there was a touching scene that showed the gentleness and tenderness of President Abraham Lincoln. While he was visiting near the battle lines, Lincoln noticed three kittens, who had lost their mother. Moved by their mewing, he picked them up to comfort them.

Lincoln said, “Poor little creatures, don’t cry; you’ll be taken good care of.” To an officer, the President added, “Colonel, I hope you will see that these poor little motherless waifs are given plenty of milk and treated kindly.” The colonel replied “I will see, Mr. President, that they are taken in charge by the cook of our mess and are well cared for.”

One of the officers on the scene said, “It was a curious sight at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis, in the nation’s history, to see the hand which had affixed the signature to the Emancipation Proclamation, and had signed the commissions of all the army men who served in the cause of the Union … tenderly caressing three stray kittens.”

Lincoln’s biographer, John Meacham adds, “It was not only curious—it was revealing. In the midst of carnage, fresh from a battlefield strewn with the corpses of those he had ordered in the battle, Lincoln was seeking some kind of affirmation of life, some evidence of innocence, some sense of kindliness amid cruelty. The orphaned kittens were a small thing, but they were there, and his focus on their welfare was a passing human moment in a vast drama.”

In an issue of CT magazine author Lily Burana writes how her depression brought her to the brink of suicide until God rescued her.

Lily had always been a gloomy person, even as a small child she suffered bouts of depression. She had been raised in a Christian home, but even so the darkness within kept deepening. She married and started working as a writer between dark spells that froze her into writer’s block for weeks at a time. But then a dangerously deep depressive spell gripped her.

I teetered on the brink of suicide. Even with the outward show of a full and happy life—husband, family, health, career—I felt desperate, alone, scarred, stained, and worthless. At my lowest low, I asked God for a sign. And God delivered, in the form of a bald eagle soaring across my sightline mere minutes after I’d requested that exact omen.

Lily cautiously returned to church and loved hearing about how God not only redeems us but emboldens us: Think of Hebrews 13:6 “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’”

I would love to tell you that God reached down and whisked away my depression. But faith has only made living with it more manageable. It helps that I take my meds with something approaching religious fervor. But I can’t lay full credit for my wellbeing at the feet of Big Pharma, for nothing has helped me recover more than receiving God’s grace.

Depression is most often an invisible illness—people don’t know you have it unless you tell them. Through faith in Christ, I feel less alone, less ashamed, and less likely to conceal my suffering. Because I know it is heard and believed by God. I’m beholding things with a peace and depth I’ve never experienced before. And through Christ I am redeemed, the slate wiped clean.

The late pastor and writer Eugene Peterson once told a story about walking in Yellowstone Park with his wife and three children. Peterson wrote:

As my family and I were walking in a mountain meadow in Yellowstone Park, there was a little boy of four or five about 30 yards out in the meadow picking exquisite alpine flowers. It is against the rules to pick flowers in national parks. I was outraged. I yelled at him, “Don’t pick the flowers.” He just stood wide-eyed, innocent and terrified. He dropped the flowers and started crying.

You can imagine what happened next. My wife and children, my children especially, were all over me. “Daddy, what you did was far worse than what he did! He was just picking a few flowers and you yelled, you scared him. You ruined him. He is probably going to have to go for counseling when he’s 40 years old.” My children were right. You cannot yell people into holiness. You cannot terrify people into the sacred. My yelling was a far worse violation of the holy place than his picking a few flowers. Later I had plenty of opportunity to reflect on this, reminded, as I frequently was, by my children.

I do that a lot, bluster and yell on behalf of God‘s holy presence, instead of taking off my shoes myself, kneeling on holy ground, and inviting whoever happens to be around to join with me.

He added, “If we begin by formulating a problem, by identifying a need, by tackling a necessary job, by launching a program, we reduce the reality that is before us to what we can do or get others to do.” Peterson concludes that everything we do in the Christian life must begin with adoration, with a sense of wonder, and with worship.

Non-violent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts. Those engaging a threshold of 3.5 percent of the population have never failed to bring about change.

The Singing Revolution in Estonia and the Rose Revolution in Georgia along with others are given as examples of successful protests that resulted in serious change. Not only are peaceful protests more ethical than violent protests, but they also are more likely to gain the popular support needed.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The disciples and the early church, though small in numbers, changed the entire world through a peaceful preaching of the gospel. So too believers today, though in the minority, can change a home, a neighborhood, and beyond.

Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance era philosopher, politician, and writer. His writings greatly influenced modern political science. The following is an edited excerpt from The School of Life’s YouTube video on his views.

Machiavelli believed that to be effective, political leaders needed to be ruthless and tyrannical, not empathetic and just. His book, The Prince, is a short manual of advice for princes on how not to finish last. And the answer was never to be overly devoted to acting nicely. and to know how to borrow every single trick employed by the most dastardly, unscrupulous and nastiest people who have ever lived.

Machiavelli knew where our counter-productive obsession with acting nicely originated from: the West was brought up on the Christian story of Jesus of Nazareth. (He was) the very nice man from Galilee who always treated people well.

But Machiavelli pointed out an inconvenient detail to this sentimental tale of the triumph of goodness through meekness. From a practical perspective, Jesus’ life was an outright disaster. This gentle soul was trampled upon and humiliated, disregarded and mocked. Judged in his lifetime and outside of any divine assistance, he was one of history’s greatest losers.

Possible Preaching Angle:

What Machiavelli (and so many others) fail to take into account is that the gentle Lamb becomes a Lion. After the seeming “defeat” of the Cross, our resurrected Lord will return in great power and glory to reign over the earth. He was exalted by the Father because of his willingness to humble himself and take on the form of a servant.

David Roseberry writes in a recent blog on LeaderWorks:

I went to see a doctor for a pain in my shoulder. My shoulder was just hurting all the time, whenever I moved it. The doctor examined me and he diagnosed the problem as “frozen shoulder.” It comes from just being my age, and from use.

The doctor said, “There are a couple of things we need to do. The first is physical therapy,” and he wrote me a prescription for that. “And I can give you a steroid shot, a cortisone shot, right into the joint of that shoulder.”

I said, “Go for it.”

As the doctor’s getting ready to do the injection, he says, “What do you do for a living?”

I say, “I’m a minister. I preach for a living. Do you have a church?”

He said, “No, I gave that up long ago. ... Now listen, just relax a little bit here, and we’ll get that joint all loosened up so you can continue to point your finger at people.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Wait a minute! Is that really the world’s perception of the God we represent? Shouldn’t people see the grace of God in our lives? “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.” (Ps. 103:8-9)

As is her role as police dispatcher and call-taker, Antonia Bundy answered the call and rendered help where it was needed. But her caller presented an unusual request.

“You had a bad day at school?” she asked the young boy on the line. “Yeah, I just called to tell you that.”

Nine times out of ten, such an admission might be met with a scolding for wasting police resources. But for Bundy, something seemed different enough to take a different tack.

''When he told me he was having a bad day and I asked him what was troubling him he told me that he had homework," Bundy explained in a local TV interview. "And at that point, I was able to determine that it was more of a 'I need help with homework' than an actual emergency."

Fortunately, Bundy was cheerfully up-to-the-task. "I've always been good at math. All the way through high school I enjoyed it. So it was something I was very happy I could help him with." Bundy walked him through an arithmetic problem, calling it a nice break in her busy day.

As it turns out, her decision not to scold the child paid off, as he seemed to be aware that his problem did not qualify as an emergency.

"I'm sorry for calling you,” he said. “But I really needed help."

Bundy’s response?

"You're fine. We're always here to help."

Potential Preaching Angles:

No request is too small for God, and if we are God’s creation, God will take care of us, so let’s have the boldness of children and ask God for what we need.

Daniel McNeely is a pediatric neurosurgeon in Halifax, Nova Scotia, so he’s used to fielding questions from nervous parents and patients. But it was a first for him when an 8-year-old patient had a specific request as the child was being wheeled to surgery while clutching his stuffed animal: “My bear is ripped. Please stitch him up.”

The boy, identified as Jackson McKie, has a cyst on his brain and a chronic condition called hydrocephalus, according to Global News. The surgery was to drain fluid and relieve pressure on his brain.

McNeely assured the boy he would, and he took the task seriously. After McNeely performed surgery on the boy’s brain, he placed the bear on a table, put on blue gloves and used leftover stitches from the child’s surgery to repair an underarm tear on the bear.

Then in another first, McNeely — who had never tweeted before — went on Twitter Sunday to post a photo of the moment that had been captured by a resident. He wrote, “Patient asks if I can also fix teddy bear just before being put off to sleep... how could I say no?”

“He’s one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met,” Jackson’s father, Rick McKie, said of McNeely. McKie said his son was thrilled when he woke up to see his stuffed buddy, which he takes with him everywhere he goes, had been stitched up just like him. McKie said that his family deeply appreciates McNeely’s medical care over the years, as well as his human touch. “When we get there we’re terrified to death, but every time we talk to Dr. McNeely we feel better.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Gentleness; Good Shepherd; Humanity of Christ - Jesus was tender and gentle with children, as well as the weak and fearful. In our deepest need, he puts our mind at rest with his personal attention. 2) Renewal; Restoration—Christ not only forgives our sins, he also restores our lives by stitching up our brokenness.

Robert Morgan relates a story from the life of John Wooden, one of the most revered coaches in the history of college basketball, who credited much of his success to his dad. He recalled a boyhood occasion when he watched his father deal with a certain situation. His rural Indiana county would pay local farmers to take teams of mules or horses into the gravel pits scattered through the county and haul out loads of gravel. Some pits were deeper than others, and sometimes it was hard for a team to pull a wagon filled with gravel out through the wet sand and up the steep incline.

One steamy summer day, wrote Wooden, a young farmer was trying to get his team of horses to pull a fully loaded wagon out of the pit. He was whipping and cursing those beautiful plow horses, which were frothing at the mouth, stomping, and pulling back from him. The elder Wooden watched for a while, then went over to the young man and said, "Let me take 'em for you."

Dad started talking to the horses, almost whispering to them, and stroking their noses with a soft touch. Then he walked between them, holding their bridles and bits while he continued talking-very calmly and gently-as they settled down. Gradually he stepped out in front of them and gave a little whistle to start them moving forward while he guided the reins. Within moments, those two big plow horses pulled the wagon out of the gravel pit as easy as could be. As if they were happy to do it.

John Wooden said, ''I've never forgotten what I saw him do and how he did it. Over the years I've seen a lot of leaders act like that angry young farmer who lost control. ... So much more can usually be accomplished by Dad's calm, confident, and steady approach."

Wooden took away an indelible lesson: "It takes strength inside to be gentle on the outside."

Charles Galbreath, a pastor of Clarendon Road Church in Brooklyn, tells the story of a black man gunned down by police in his neighborhood. Anger seethed in the neighborhood. Frustration from years of racial oppression was about to erupt in violence. Many people lined up to march down the main street while police gathered, expecting violence.

Charles and a group of pastors rushed to the gathering place and found themselves caught in the middle between the police and the people. Tensions were rising. Insults were being hurled across the divide. One side picked up rocks, the other side clutched their guns. The pastors feared for their lives; bullets could fly at any moment.

Galbreath said that some of the pastors spontaneously walked into the middle of the street between the two warring parties, bowed their heads, and started to pray. They implored God to visit this place. As Charles tells it, slowly the tension died down, the people put down the rocks, and the police took their hands off their holsters. Those who cared stayed. And without a shot fired or rock thrown, conversations began and God's presence appeared that night in that community. It was the beginning of something new God was doing to bring justice and reconciliation to a street corner.

Possible Preaching Angles: David Fitch adds, "Kingdom prayer does not remove us from the world but places us firmly in the middle of it even in the most violent, awkward, and hopeless circumstances, kingdom prayer open space for God's presence and strengthens those praying to walk faithfully in that presence."

Pat Payaso is currently running for an open seat on Boston's city council—and he recently got an idea for a creative way to campaign.

"Payaso" translates to "clown" in Spanish; according to a report in TIME, Payaso "donned a rainbow wig, a red nose, and clown makeup in recent campaign photos and videos on social media."

But then he actually showed up at a polling place with the clown costume, and people were a little scared: "Police tell The Boston Herald that Pat Payaso's presence near a polling location at Roxbury Community College made some people nervous … and they called the authorities."

Later, an officer stopped Payaso and "realized he wasn't a threat."

Potential Preaching Angles: Payaso wasn't trying to terrify anyone (at least, we hope not)—he just wanted to spread the word about his campaign and garner some interest from potential voters. But the way he did it ended up being far from fun. Now think about the ways you try to share the gospel and the good news about your faith: Are you making friends, family, or coworkers feel comfortable and safe as you tell them why you believe what you believe? Or might they feel confused or judged?

In 1996 two military strategists, Harlan Uliman and James Wade, started advocating a more focused approach to war. Uliman and Wade argued for engaging the enemy with an overwhelming show of force that will destroy "the adversary's will to resist before, during, and after battle." They titled their book Shock and Awe.

Shock and Awe, also known as Rapid Dominance, is defined as "a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight." The goal is to render your opponent impotent by using "superior technology, precision engagement, and information dominance."

Shortly before the first Iraq War, Uliman described what would happen with this Shock and Awe approach: "You're sitting in Baghdad and all of a sudden you're the general and 30 of your division headquarters have been wiped out. You also take the city down. By that I mean you get rid of their power, water. In 2,3,4,5 days they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted."

In response to human sin and evil, God could have used Shock and Awe. He could have employed Rapid Dominance to crush us with his "overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force." Instead, the God of all authority and power, chose a radically different strategy: redemptive love, being delivered into the hands of sinners and then laying down his life at the cross. No wonder Paul had to acknowledge "the foolishness of the cross."

Pastor Scott Sauls tells a story about an unnamed nursery worker who bumped into a first time visitor named Janet who had dropped her two boys off in the nursery. Sauls writes:

After the service, while Janet was waiting in the nursery line to retrieve her boys, one of the nursery workers quietly approached her and said that there had been some issues. Both of her boys had picked fights with other children. Also, one of her boys had broken several of the toys that belonged to the church. In front of a room filled with other children and their parents, Janet scolded her boys and then screamed in a bellowing voice, "S—!" Deeply ashamed and feeling like a failure, Janet got her boys and skulked out of the building. No doubt, we were never going to see her again.

But that unnamed nursery volunteer called the church office that Monday and asked if I could check the visitor notebook to see if Janet had left her contact information. She had. I gave the nursery worker Janet's address, and unbeknownst to me, she sent Janet a note. The note read something like this:

Dear Janet, I'm so glad that you and your boys visited our church. Oh, and about that little exchange when you picked them up from the nursery? Let's just say that I found it so refreshing—that you would feel freedom to speak with an honest vocabulary like that in church. I am really drawn to honesty, and you are clearly an honest person. I hope we can become friends. Love, Unnamed Nursery Worker.

The nursery worker and Janet did in fact become friends. Janet came back the next Sunday. And the Sunday after that. And the Sunday after that. And eventually, Janet became the nursery director for the church. Later on I would discover that when Janet started coming to our church she was a recovering heroin addict.

It's difficult for parents who are trying to navigate how their children relate to social media. Here's one story about how NOT to do it. The following story ran in a British and then an Australian newspaper:

Taking away electronics is a common parental punishment, but this mother decided to take it one step further—and shoot up her children's iPhones with a rifle. "I hereby denounce the effects that social media have on my children," the mom shouts at the beginning of a YouTube video, a gun in her hand. "Their disobedience and their disrespect."

She then points the gun and the camera moves to reveal that she's not about to shoot a pheasant or a bottle, but is aiming straight for an iPhone perched on a tree trunk. With perfect aim she blows the smartphone to smithereens, as its pieces go flying into the grass.

"I also take back my role as parent to my children," she then yells … She then blows the remnants of the iPhone to bits, once again hitting it on her first shot. "My children's lives are more important to me," she begins, as the camera reveals she is standing over the iPhones with a sledgehammer, "than any electronic on this earth." She then hammers the remaining pieces a few times, her dog watching, before screaming: "I'm done!" And with that, she drops the hammer and walks away.

We all know bad manners are toxic. But new research now shows that bad manners can kill. In this study, when doctors spoke rudely to their staff, both accuracy and performance suffered. The medical teams exposed to bad behavior and nasty comments demonstrated poorer diagnostic and procedural performance than those who were not exposed to incivility.

As the lead researchers commented: "Relatively benign forms of incivility among medical staff members—simple rudeness—have robust implications on medical team collaboration processes and thus on their performance as a team."

Rudeness and lack of kindness undermine people's ability to think clearly and make good decisions. It steals confidence and weakens motivation.

Editor's Note: On a positive note, we could assume that there is just as much power for good in simple and ordinary acts of kindness and gentleness.

An article on Esquire magazine begins with this quote in bold capital letters:

WE THE PEOPLE ARE PISSED. THE BODY POLITIC IS BURNING UP. AND THE ANGER THAT COURSES THROUGH OUR HEADLINES AND NEWS FEEDS—ABOUT INJUSTICE AND INEQUALITY, ABOUT MARGINALIZATION AND DISENFRANCHISEMENT, ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO US—SHOWS NO SIGN OF ABATING. ESQUIRE TEAMED UP WITH NBC NEWS TO SURVEY 3,000 AMERICANS ABOUT WHO'S ANGRIEST, WHAT'S MAKING THEM ANGRY, AND WHO'S TO BLAME.

Here's one of the most interesting statistics: "Half of all Americans are angrier today than they were a year ago." And white Americans are the angriest of them all. Here is a summary of how they see life, "From their views on the state of the American dream (dead) and America's role in the world (not what it used to be) to how their life is working out for them (not quite what they'd had in mind), a plurality of whites tends to view life through a veil of disappointment."

The first question in the survey is "About how often do you hear or read something in the news that makes you angry?" The top three responses are: 37 percent once a day, 31 percent a few times a day, and 20 percent once a week. In total, about 88 percent of all Americans are angry at least once a week.