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Anger

"Be angry, and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath." (Ephesians 4:26)
Anger can be a destructive force that does more harm to us than upon those upon whom we vent it.  For this reason St. Paul gives the sound counsel to be reconciled with others before the day is over echoing Christ's own imperative in Matthew 5:23,24:

"Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there, before the altar, and go your way.  First,be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."

It is often not the big things in life that cause arguments but the little things.  We may have fallen out of friendship with someone we know over something quite inconsequential and trivial but anger causes pride and we try to justify our righteous indignation with rampart defence mentality and further vitriol.  The trivial becomes magnified and magnitudes become trivialised.  It only takes something very small to upset our equilibrium and lose our sense of proportion.  The evil one know this only too well and uses it to great effect if we allow him.  It is for this reason that St John Chrysostom advises us to direct this anger in a positive way, not at others or ourselves but at the evil one.

"This is why God has armed us with anger.Not that we should thrust the sword against our own bodies,but that we should baptise the whole blade in the devil's breast."

St John Chrysostom

Elder Joseph the Hesychast in one of his letters to one of his spiritual children writes that:-

"Anger in itself is natural.  Just as the body has nerves, the soul has anger.  Everyone should use it against the demons, heretics, and anyone who hinders us from the path of God.  However, if you get angry with your fellow brothers, or get in a rage and ruin the work of your hands, know that you are suffering from vainglory and are abusing the nerve of your soul. You are delivered from this passion through love towards all and humility."

First, we must recognise the anger welling up inside and this is not difficult since anger is truly psychosomatic with increased heart rate and blood pressure.  Then we should close our mouth tightly so that the demon of anger is not allowed a voice.  When we are cursed we should answer with a blessing since man was created by God as a rational and gentle being.  Others are corrected far better with love and gentleness rather than with anger and harshness.  We must suppress anger with all the grace and might that God gives to us and we will find it weaker when the passion is aroused on future occasions.  Indeed,the Apostle Paul identifies anger as one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:20) and gentleness and self control as two of the fruits of the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:22)

According to the sayings of the Desert Fathers. "An angry and irritable man is not accepted in the kingdom of God even if he raises the dead!"

An illustration: A cautionary tale

In a small cantina in Mexico, one afternoon in the height of summer, two friends were drinking coffee.  The devil had bet one of his demons that he could start a fight between these two friends just with a fly.  The devil put the fly on the table where the two friends were drinking and where a cat was sleeping.  The cat was annoyed by the buzzing of the fly around its ear and with its paw swiped at the fly, but missed, knocking the cup on the floor where a dog was asleep. The man's dog awoke and started barking waking the other friend's family who were having a siesta in their house on the other side of the street.  One of them threw a stone at the dog hitting him and making him yelp in pain.  At this, the first friend, whose dog it was became enraged.  "How dare you throw a stone at my dog!" he said and threw a stone at his friend's relation at the window.  A fight began between the two friends and their respective relations joined in.  Such was the ferocity of the injuries that the two friends became bitter enemies and remain so to this day.  "You see," said the devil to his demon, "it takes only the smallest thing to make these humans become angry."

Fr. Jonathan

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