It seems that the past few years have been a period of anger and outrage, sparked by past-President Voldemort whose grievances and "othering" were hugely destructive at home and abroad. His impeachment trial is as a result of whipping up the anger of followers who were willing to engage in insurrection, the opposite of patriotism.
Those of us who enter the murky waters of social media have learned the term "doom-scrolling" which describes making our way through countless messages on Twitter and elsewhere which are the online version of the valley of the shadow of death. This could also be described as "umbrage-scrolling," the build-up of offense and annoyance which often spills out in anger. I often found myself worked up in not-so-righteous indignation about circumstances well beyond anything I could influence.
I came across this great quote from Frederick Buechner, a favourite author through many decades. As you can see, he describes anger as the Deadly Sin which is the most fun and a "feast fit for a king." He goes on to say that the drawback is that anger is a form of self-cannibalism, leaving us as carcasses. This is graphic and brilliant.
The apostle Paul is fairly clear about grudge-holding and anger. making sure we understand that whatever name we use for it, it's toxic. And then those words "forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you." Could it be much clearer. Forgive...after the impeachment trial...
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another... Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you
Ephesians 4:25-26, 31-32
No comments:
Post a Comment