The Visitor Anger

I am listening right now to a sermon about anger by Tim Keller. This is the second hearing.

Anger is a good visitor but a dangerous resident of the soul. When I became a Christian, I was surprised to read that Jesus became angry at times. Yet, he was purposeful and measured in his anger. It was episodic and not omnipresent.

I have spent a good deal of my adult life trying to figure out how to be skillful in this difficult, dangerous, and necessary emotion.

Anger, if it were black in color, has a place in the emotional crayon box. It should be one color of many, particularly useful in providing boundaries of right and wrong. Or, to convey a sense of strength, seriousness, and somberness.

We should put on anger or pick it up when appropriate and useful. It gives us access to a necessary place, a place that we visit intentionally and mindfully. Then, take it off, put it down, and leave. Lay it down in tranquility. And, re-enter the world of emotional color where black has a place and a purpose, where black makes other colors brighter.