THE STORY BEHIND ANGER

     I think there is a tremendous amount of anger lurking in our world. There is an angry energy in so many people, even if they are not yelling or otherwise acting out. It's in the way they drive, or in their facial expressions, or how they move, or in some sarcastic comment they make and pass off as humor. There's a sense in people of being victims, of being done to, of life being exceptionally difficult for them. They are singled out for hardship... or think they are. Anger is a defensive position. It lashes out to protect itself. But who wants it?
     I don't like to be angry and I don't like to be at the receiving end of anger either. I don't like raised voices, silent brooding, or violence of any kind. And yet, I have anger within me. I feel it sometimes, lurking, just the way I feel it out in the world.
     It's a cover story for fear, I think. When I feel afraid, it's because I have no power, and no control over something, and I am short on trust. I rage at whatever it is. It's my way of trying for control. But instead of getting angry, I can ask myself honestly, what am I afraid of? And if I can answer the question, maybe the anger will dissipate; maybe it will shift to tears as it dissolves, or pure exhaustion, or a great big laugh.
     While never intentionally putting myself in the path of anger, I can have a certain amount of compassion for myself and others when it crops up, understanding that it has a direct link to fear. Anger, as I see it, is a cry for love and a cry for faith more than it is anything else, and it is healed by understanding and patience and a soft, firm voice, or by walking away. It is never extinguished by retaliation, or lashing back, or more anger in return.

I do not contribute to the anger of the world. I let go of my fears and have compassion for those who are blindly raging against their own.