Trash Your Wrath
September 30, 2010
Bible excerpt from Psalm 37:1-9
"Trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse." (The Message)
Reflection by William C. Green
As one sage put it, "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
But "trash it"? Get rid of anger because it's a sin? How can we do that? And what about many of the Psalms, where outrage includes wrathful prayers that an entire population be wiped out? What of our own faith up against "enemies" closer to home: friends who won't tell us the truth, colleagues who talk behind our back, partners who betray us, politicians who insult our credulity, injustice and evil in much of the world and right here, too?
What needs trashing is not anger itself, but anger that ignores God. The same Psalm that tells us to "cool your pipes" first says, "Open up before God, keep nothing back; God will do whatever needs to be done." That doesn't mean we do nothing more and disregard our own feelings. It means there's a power greater than ours working to direct and, when need be, correct us. God's goal? As the psalmist says, to "make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday." In God's hands, adapting something Martin Luther King said: The arc of our anger may be long, but it bends toward justice.
Prayer
Ever-present God, keep me from withholding anger. May I share it counting on your guidance and justice. Amen.
