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(Technically, only an echo of scripture - but may y'all be encouraged by it.)

The word used is αἰῶνας (aionas) - plural of aion. "Ages". Or "Worlds", if you don't go for the Stoic cosmological concept of a sequence of "Ages". "Universe" (or "Universes") works too.

I have not yet conceded that preliminary assumption.

Then answer it. "Why does He then find fault? For who resists His will?"

It's what we are. Humanity is a sick bunch. No wonder the Calvinists came up with that "Total Depravity" doctrine.

The same way my dad felt about being called "Ol' Grouch" behind his back?

Dysfunctional people. How many here have stated that they would not follow Jesus if they weren't terrified of being sent to Hell? How many would not repent of whatever their particular sins are? They NEED God to be angry with them. And they want to make sure every other Christian is equally...

And then they won't be happy until everyone else is just as neurotic as they are - but that's another story.

That depends on the child. Bluntly, what I've seen here and in other forums over the past 20 years is there is a significant percentage of people out there who psychologically NEED God to be angry with them. Really. Think about what you've observed yourself.

Getting back to my Catholic neighbor's perception of the "God of the Old Testament" being angry all the time - I suspect that is because the OT writers spent a considerable amount of time and parchment relating the circumstances that led up to the Babylonian exile. What we're allowed to see is...

In which case, as in disciplining misbehaving children, it may be necessary for a Father to exhibit anger.

Hah! Paul's strawman came to life and started winning the argument. "Why then does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" I think that's a damned reasonable question to ask, and Paul can't answer it. Paul had to put down a Golem of his own making.

I especially like this part - Christ identified with us; we identify with Christ.

The phrase used is ἐγενόμην ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Πάτμῳ. "ἐγενόμην" is the first person second aorist middle deponent (phew!) form of "γίνομαι", which means "to become". The aorist form is technically without reference to time, but is commonly used as what in English would be a past tense...

But at least I've heard of Beecher, if only because of his more famous brother Henry and sister Harriet. Piece of trivia my mind latched onto from a course on US Cultural History I took in college.

Does God answer by our casting lot? When we ran across this in one of our Bible studies, our pastor referred to the practice as "rolling God's holy dice". Which I guess puts a different spin on the term, "holy rollers".

I was being chewed out real good by my boss over Zoom when I got saved by her cat taking a running leap onto her face right in front of the camera. She couldn't stay angry when her cat was trying to start a wrestling match with her nose and ears.

Is it okay to empty for mind when meditating? But not while driving, please.