Voices of faith: What is the best way to deal with anger?

Voices of faith: What is the best way to deal with anger?

Pastor Raymond Davis Jr., Greater Corinthian Church of the Christ: Anger has deep roots in our human make up and is an explosive emotion that must not be allowed to become an evil or sinful expression of one’s character.

That anger must be within one’s self-control to quiet the emotion is alluded to in the wisdom of Scripture:”Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry” (Ecclesiastes 7:9a KJV). A New Testament rendering says, “Be angry, and sin not: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26 KJV, NIV).

To deal with anger is not to wait until it raises its ugly head but be able to adjust to potentially dangerous encounters by practicing and growing in a spiritual mind. For example, in relationships when conversations of differences of opinions are being stressed in volatile tones, the temptation to anger is strong and can give place to sinful and evil actions.

But you respond with a spiritual response by remembering the wisdom of Scripture,”A gentle answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1 NIV). The challenge here is to know that a loud, boisterous, angry voice should not be the response to a loud, boisterous, angry voice.

Murder is incited by and through anger. Jesus addressed the issue of anger as having a judgment upon it (Matthew 5:21, 22 NIV).

Lama Chuck Stanford, Rime Buddhist Center & Monastery: From the Buddhist perspective, anger is an afflictive emotion that is never justified because it undermines our peace of mind.

Some believe that anger is justified and even refer to the “righteousness of anger.” Referring to anger as righteous implies that there is something virtuous about it. But how can anger be a virtue when it destroys our happiness and peace of mind? After all, it is impossible to feel angry and happy at the same time. Therefore, we can see that anger is a disturbing mind set.

Anger is an emotion that has no real benefits. When we are angry, are we acting with compassion and kindness toward the source of our anger? Usually we respond to the source of our anger with hostility. Theeighth-century Indian saint Shantideva says, “It is natural for the immature to harm others. Getting angry with them is like resenting a fire for burning.”It is easy to see that we need a radically new way to deal with our anger.

From the Buddhist perspective, the antidote to anger is to apply patience. Meditation is useful in transforming the afflictive emotion of anger into the virtue of patience.

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