I was commenting this weekend to my pastor about the culture we are living in right now in America and how everyone, or at least alot of folks, have such a short fuse.  Really, more and more people get riled up about less and less.

I’ve seen this on TV, in the movies, and on the news, but I’ve noticed more and more in my daily routine as I drive my kids to school, buy groceries, or go see my 7 year old play football.  It doesn’t take much for most people to have an all-out meltdown, to go from sitting still and quiet to ranting, raving, cursing and threatening those around them, for insignificant things like taking a parking spot, failing to let them in the line of traffic, or for just looking at them (seriously, the other day I was staring off into space thinking about something random, and a guy in a truck thought I was looking at him - I was wearing sunglasses - and he challenged me to fist fight.  I turned him down).

What’s behind all of this?  When people crater and just go nuts, like some parents recently did at a little league football game I attended, what is the cause of such out-of-control behavior?

Well, there are many factors, to be sure.  Immaturity.  Stress.  Family problems.  But I really wonder if the reason why we all tend to blow up about such minor things is that we fail to realize the difference between what really matters and what is absolutely unimportant in the grand scheme of things.  We lack an eternal perspective.

Would I get so angry when the cashier can’t get me the right amount of change if I remembered that in 100 years, nobody would ever know it?  Would adults get so hyper-offended at their children’s sporting events if they realized they were setting an example that their kids will follow, then teach to their grandkids?

In the long run, what really matters is the life I live for Christ, how I treat other people, and the way I love my wife and raise my children.  The gospel compels me to avoid the temptation to act as if the momentary crisis I am facing is the end-all issue in my life, and it calls me to remember who I am and WHOSE I am.

If we were focused on eternity and the things that have eternal significance, then our hot-heads would cool down a bit and we would be more careful and thoughtful about how we spend our energy and what we allow to raise our blood pressure.