Anger

“Most persons have temptations to anger.” (Matt Fradd, “Rooting Out Hidden Faults”, page 75-76).

Anger and Zeal in the Temple (Giordano)

Have you ever had a moment of anger where you said or did something that you truly regretted in the calmness after the storm had passed?

I find that I am very often caught up in feelings of anger, and unless I concentrate deliberately on controlling my anger, I am left feeling completely heartbroken by the decisions that I am making in my angry state.

Often, when I am most angry, I am also most moved to action.  That is when I suddenly become most eloquent.  That is when I can grab a phone or a pen or a grandstand and say all the things that come to my mind.  And that is also when I can communicate in the most awful and least effective manner possible.  It is when I am able to hurt people who I love and care about and upset people who I have a good relationship with.  And I can swing from joy to anger as quickly as a spinning top.

Matt Fradd writes in “Rooting Out Hidden Faults” at page 75-76, “Most persons have temptations to anger. There is hardly anyone who does not at times become peevish, irritable, or impatient; and these are the beginning of more serious faults. Now we all know the harm and very serious results of anger. There is no example that makes clearer its ruinous effects than the Crucifixion of Our Lord...We have also seen how anger has brought families into discord and even permanent separation. We have read how nations have been led to war. The surprising fact is that though each and every one has had brought to his attention the fruits of anger—the sufferings, the discord, the unhappiness—sill there is much that could be sought by most persons in regard to meekness and something of meekness that could be sought by everybody.”

And I have been reflecting on those words and see that they are very true.  After all, that anger can be so destructive.  It is not righteous anger – it is destructive anger – built on the foundation of my pride and self-righteousness…

And that is where the danger lies.  After all, that pride is the very thing that destroys the love that I should bear in my heart for the souls who God has placed in my path.  That anger is the very thing that destroys the relationships that I am most earnestly entreated to save.  And I see it for what it is – a terrible temptation to make irreversible decisions with permanent consequences based on my impermanent feelings.

And is that not really what sin is?  Is not sin just a decision to prioritise the temporary over the eternal?  Is it not just a chance to sacrifice my eternal joy for a temporary happiness (and maybe not even that)?

And so, today, as I reflect on the destructive nature of anger, I am overcome by all the times that I have traded eternity for a few ill-chosen words designed to inflict maximum harm on those who my Beloved has placed into my care…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.