Schadenfreude!
Happy Jesus Day!
SCHADENFREUDE!
Two teenagers asked me why people are so rude in traffic? Why do they get angry when you pull in front of them? While in traffic recently I inadvertently pulled in front of a man in a big pickup. He followed behind me, on his horn, for the next several blocks. Why? “Schadenfreude – a german word meaning to experience joy from someone else’s misfortune.” A Stanford professor actually measured Schadenfreude in a brain scan. He determined that when something tragic happens to someone you dislike it actually produces a chemical reaction in the brain to bring about pleasure. That man, in an attempt to scare me, was experiencing “schadenfreude”. Self esteem has a negative relationship with the frequency of schadenfreude. Individuals with lower self-esteem tend to experience schadenfreude more intensely. The man in the truck experienced anger because he wanted to be first, due to his low self esteem. By trying to scare me it brought about schadenfreude. Our Savior was just the opposite, as as we should be. As followers of Christ we should never experience pleasure from the misfortune of others. Even our enemies. When Osama Bin Laden was killed, so many in America experienced schadenfreude. Not Jesus. To our Lord Osama was another child of his missing, as his other children rejoiced with schadenfreude. Didn’t he teach us better as he forgave his enemies on the cross? What kind of world could we experience if we dismissed SCHADENFREUDE! We might get a taste of heaven on earth!
I Love You! Perry