slow to anger, easy to calm

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There are four kinds of temperament:

 

Easy to anger, easy to calm – the negative is canceled by the positive

Hard to anger, hard to calm – the positive is canceled by the negative

Hard to anger, easy to calm – such people are truly holy.

Easy to anger, hard to calm – such people are truly wicked

          V:14 Wisdom of the Jewish Sages (Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro)

_____________________________

 

It rises too quickly

This anger that eats at my soul

 

I like to believe it is righteous

This indignation

 

This ferocity that rises when I hear the lies

See the injustice, the racism

The fire that burns fiercely when I see suppression and oppression

When I watch people misinformed and mislead

And sucked into the abyss of fear

 

There is a place for anger

For the prognostications of the prophets

For the fierce burning God places upon the heart

For the agony that comes when we see

The rich plunder and see the poor abandoned

When we watch the powerful abuse their power

And see precious souls dehumanized and marginalized by racism, sexism, fascism

All the “isms” of the world

 

But we cannot live in anger

We cannot carry hate

Without becoming a force for harm

 

Even if we are on the side of righteousness

Unchecked anger becomes destructive

 

Anger distorts, even blinds

Anger becomes a powerful energy that leads to excess

To rigidity

To judgment

Exclusion

Even violence, a violence that emerges in many ways

 

We need calm

We need to find a quieter and gentler place

We need to find space in our heads, and even more

In our hearts

 

Where, as we breathe in and breathe out

We create room for love

And compassion

Generosity

Even forgiveness

 

Jesus got angry, but it took a lot

It took greed camping out in the place of holiness

But Jesus had a peace that passes all understanding

The calmness of watching betrayal

Of healing another, while being arrested

Of forgiving from the cross

 

He saw it all

He felt it all

The fire burned

But it did not consume

And he found that calm at the center of his soul

That allowed him to respond to the evil around him

Not with evil, but with love

 

Lord, this day

Help me to be slow to anger

And easy to calm

 

Help me to be holy