This morning I remembered where my thoughts about faith and reason were taking me the other day.

The most common objection to faith is that it is without reason. The case for faith says that faith fills in the gaps where reason does not completely answer. In ancient time there was little knowledge about the workings of the natural realm. Therefore faith tended to be centered around affecting the natural world and meeting the material needs of man. As time passed, the spiritual benefits of faith were discovered and grew. So faith eventually had a three fold makeup, explaining the natural world, meeting the needs of man, and providing spiritual fulfillment. Through the progress of scientific understanding and technological advancement, the emphasis on supernatural explanation of the natural world and provision of man's material needs has decreased. Conversely the emphasis on spiritual fulfillment has increased.

This presents a dilemma of faith because we live by such a naturalistic and material world view that we have become trained to lean too heavily on these realms in which we see little reason for faith. But given a life crisis (or humility) by which we become willing to consider the spiritual. Given due consideration the spiritual connection becomes inherently resonant within us.

Today my youngest daughter did not have school so I was home with her. It was a rainy, stormy morning and we didn't have any errands to run so we were stuck inside.

In the afternoon my wife stayed at school studying until after dinner. As the day wore on I began to have simmering resentment. I was angry because I had been stuck at home all day and she had a meeting tonight.

There were a lot of little things that I would start to get irritated about and had to resist being angry about. I had to stop and allow the children to live and make mistakes many times today. I had to stop and pray for God to save me from being angry.

The show "Watching the Goal" came on tonight and it was about being angry. They talked about natural anger and when anger becomes sin. I agreed with a lot of what they said but I didn't agree that there is some anger that is ok and motivational especially for social change. I am grateful for the understanding that anger is a poison for me no matter what the cause. Also that anger is really a fear at some level and that it is basic instinct that blinds me.

While my wife was at her meeting my younger son was playing with a toilet roll holder and half of it and the spring fell in the toilet. I fished it out with tongs and flushed the toilet but it fell out of the tongs and flushed down the drain. I got angry and had to pray - God save me from being angry, Thy will not mine be done.

Then when the kids were finishing their fruits before bed I sat down for my review. The kids finished and the young ones started playing running back and forth. I was about to get up and put them to bed when I heard one of them slam into a door. My daughter came stammering to my room bawling and then look at me and her eyes rolled back and she fell flat on her back and hit the back of her head.

I called my wife and was so angry that I just yelled at her to come home and I hung up. I was angry without just cause, I was angry just 'cause.

As I write this I remember that she had to take all three kids to the doctor by herself this morning and she did not lose her cool. I got to stay home and take a deep nap. During a small amount of free time today I stained a picnic table instead of doing something that could have made this day go smoother. I did do a good job of catching up on a lot of cleaning that was needed so I was completely out of order.

All in all I have a lot to be grateful for, I am letting my selfishness get the better of me in making demands that I need "me" time. I need to make amends to my wife.

I spoke briefly to a sponsee who checked in with me. I got to talk to a person in the neighborhood who is going through a lot of family turmoil.

Thanks be to God for this day.