Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. – Esther 5:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 14, 2017): Esther 5

Hunter Thompson tells a story about the motorcycle gang, the “Hell’s Angels,” and their need for a garage. According to Thompson, while the gang was out on a ride, they needed to make some repairs to their bikes. And so they pulled into a rural garage that happened to appear in their path. The owner of the garage was frightened at the sudden appearance of the gang at his doorstep. The “Angels” asked the owner of the garage if they would be able to use the premises to make repairs to their bikes. The garage owner told them that they could, and then, in fear, simply walked away from his garage. Hours later, the owner return. In the hours of his absence, he had reconciled himself to the reality that there would be a lot of work that would have to be done at the garage to make it ready for the next day’s jobs – and equipment and supplies that would likely need to be replaced. It was an expense he probably couldn’t afford. But he had at least escaped the bad situation with his life. But to his surprise, he walked back into his now empty garage to find it in better condition than when he left. The floor had been swept, the tools were cleaned and in each was put back into its proper place. The lights had been turned off. They treated his garage with respect. Nothing was stolen, and everything was in place.

Thompson argued that when the owner of the garage fled in fear, to the “Angels” that had been a sign of the respect that the proprietor of the garage had in the gang. And all that the “Hell’s Angels” had ever wanted was respect. When they were given respect, they knew how to return that respect to the person from which it came. The owner, in turn, revised his image of the motorcycle gang, declaring that the Angels were welcome on his premises any time they wanted.

Haman was looking for respect. He expected to be respected by Mordecai by traditional means (rising in his presence) or untraditional ways – maybe “Angelic” ways - (by showing fear in Haman’s presence.) But Mordecai did neither. Instead, he simply went about his business as if Haman was inconsequential. And that made Haman’s already out of control rage, grow. Haman’s anger would end up being his downfall.

We cannot demand respect. We can do things that will gain it, and as even the Hell’s Angels understood, we need to return it when we find it. Haman had never earned the respect of Mordecai, and he had no intention of returning it, and so he was left with just his rage to shape his life. And that is never good.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Esther 6