Argh! This wrath of God thing is something I stumble over or, more often, avoid. It's hard for me to reconcile such unmitigated anger with the infinite love that I know resides in God. So, this morning, I googled "wrath of God" and came up with this: "Wrath is defined as "the emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice," often translated as "anger," "indignation," "vexation," or "irritation." This helped me a bit as I thought of God's boundless love for all that God has created and about how often we human beings assault what God so freely gives: we neglect our health, we judge each other harshly, we step on others to "get ahead," and we take for granted precious clean water and air. Daily, we fail to love God and our neighbor. I can imagine God being indignant, vexed, and irritated. Here is the meaning of God's wrath for me: it reminds me of my own sin and my need to repent; it reminds me, too, that every time I turn to God, I am forgiven. Every time. And forgiveness frees me to try again to live gently on this earth, like Paul describes: "...we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children." (I Thess 1:7)