Welcome

Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Anger


“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”
― Aristotle

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”
― Ambrose Bierce
_____________________________________


Yeah, it has been a day
I suspect my more conservative friends are ready to disown me
I certainly have been ready to disown them

OK, OK
Not really

But today when my anger over the “way of the world”
has gotten to me

Seriously
I am tired of the lies
The greedy
The shaming of the poor
The excuses for hideous behavior by those who should, who must, do better

I am tired of the hate
The prejudice
The illogical arguments
The blind nationalism that makes people cruel

I am not ashamed of anger
I do not believe it is wrong
But, Aristotle has it right

One has “to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way…”

And there are times I am angry at the wrong person, to the wrong degree, at the wrong time, for the wrong purpose, and most frequently of all, in the wrong way

Damn
I hate it when that happens
I hate myself when that happens

When I over react
When I attack a person personally
Or use my knowledge, and skill with words, to essentially bully another
When I build abysses, rather than bridges
When I push away, rather than draw toward

When I make the best speech I come to regret

Ah, my friends
Those who cheer me on
Those who are frustrated and repelled
Those who are angry back….
Those who have, perhaps, chosen to reject me

We can do better
I can do better

I will always challenge what I don’t think is right
That’s just me
But HOW I do it is important

Just as how we create safety as a country matters (caging kids is not it)
Just as how we create wealth matters (ruining the environment, and abusing workers is not it)
Just as how we use our power is important (being a bully on twitter, or shooting POC is not it)

So it is time to disagree
Maybe time for anger…..

but


No comments:

Post a Comment