I’m Mad as Hell…

And I won’t take it anymore!

That iconic scene from the movie “Network” is fixed in many minds.

But do we effectively deal with anger by sticking our heads out of the window and yelling our hearts out?

No. We just dial up the rage. It may be initially cathartic, but it goes nowhere. Anger breeds more anger.

We are not pressure cookers that need someone to open the valve to release steam.

Then what do we do with a perfectly acceptable emotion like anger?

We become activists. We call in the prophet who speaks truth to power.

Many of us were angry when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. But, unfortunately, that anger got us going nowhere fast. Until We took our anger to the ballot box and turned the “Red Wave” into a ripple.

The founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, Candy Lightner, took the hurt and anger of her tragedy into safety activism.

It’s perfectly appropriate that you rage against patriarchy, sexism, and racism. However, you may choose non-productive activism by banning certain books from the library, hoping your children don’t feel uncomfortable.

If you are on the other side of the spectrum from myself you have your own forms of activism. Just make it smart. Don’t go around shooting up on your opponents. Let’s set up our activism so that we can really listen to each other.

We need to be pushed out of our comfort zone in the face of injustice.

We also don’t need to avoid forgiveness with the fear that the bullies of life will be let off the hook. Avoidance is not how justice materializes.

Anyway, we forgive in order to remove the poison from our own hearts.

We need to be wise in the ways we deal with our anger.

How have you used wisdom rather than retaliation in dealing with hurts inflicted on you or your community?