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'My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me,
from the words of my groaning?
Angry
words, borne of despair. Words we might not expect to find in the
Bible, yet they are there, in the 22nd psalm. And more than that,
we find these same words on the lips of Jesus as he hangs in agony
on the cross.
Anger
is one of the emotions we find most difficult to deal with. Unlike
some of the others, it almost defies control, burning within us
and looking for an outlet. When we are truly angry, most of us look
for a place to be alone, fearing that we might say or do something
we will later regret.
But
is anger always wrong, always a sin? The events that have unfolded
in Madrid may have left us dumbfounded, but I dare say that many
of us were left angry at such senseless destruction. Over two hundred
people dead for what?
Geoffrey
Studdert Kennedy was an army chaplain during the First World War.
He became known as 'Woodbine Willy' for his propensity to distribute
cigarettes to the troops as they waited to go over the top.
His experiences in the trenches left him deeply scarred emotionally,
and he spent the remainder of his short life after the War campaigning
for peace. He also wrote poetry, most of it doggerel, trying to
put into words the things he had seen and what he felt. One is entitled,
Waste:
Waste
of muscle, waste of brain,
Waste of patience, waste of pain,
Waste of manhood, waste of health,
Waste of beauty, waste of wealth,
Waste of blood, waste of tears,
Waste of youth's most precious years,
Waste of ways the saints have trod,
Waste of glory, waste of God - war!
GA Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929)
Anger
in itself cannot be wrong. It is entirely natural and often comes
upon us without warning. However, we must ask ourselves two questions
when we feel angry.
Firstly, what has caused the anger? And secondly, what will the
anger cause? Or, where has it come from, and what will I do with
it, to put it another way.
If
we are angry because the world can be a hostile, brutal and unjust
place, how can that be wrong? If we are angry because all our children
do not receive the love and protection and nurture they need to
become healthy and whole human beings, is that not justified?
But righteous anger does not simply sit and fume about the injustice
and cruelty it sees. It needs to do something and seek to change
the way things are, including the way I am. It desires transformation,
not revenge or fury; to build community, not to destroy it.
And
so I leave you with yet another question for the week: 'Does my
anger lead me to change or to destroy?'
Rev
Sam McBratney
Week one: wilderness
Week two: sloth
Week three: envy
Week four: anger
Week five: greed
and lust
Week six: pride
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