Anger (continued)

One of the principal causes of anger is the feeling of "entitlement." It is quite easy for one to acquire the habit of thinking and believing that the world, other people, or God owe him/her, and that people ought to behave in accordance with his/her perceived way of doing things. This mode of thinking could be attributed to the reality that in our culture today, people expect to inherit material things from other family members or parents. It is almost as if one expects it and if for any reason that is not the case, one feels disappointed. The reality is that the only thing any one owes us is respect and honouring our dignity as felow human beings. We ought to work to earn any other thing we need in life, including the love and affection of others. Love and affection as well as the respect that flows from them cannot be forced out of people either by intimidation or violence (verbal or physical). In stead of helping, being angry or acting out one's anger diminishes the ability of people to trust each other and thereby reduces the possibility of harmony.

As we noted earlier, there may be situations where one may become angry. Even in the Scripture, Christ became angry at those who turned His Father's house into a marketplace. The reason behind this is that they have turned away the gentiles and were using the Court of the Gentiles for their trading and exchange. Now one has to understand the way the Jerusalem Temple was built and the distinctions made from the Holy of Holies, the Court of the Priests, the Court of the Israelites, the Court of Women and Children and the Court of the Gentiles. Jesus wanted everyone to be accepted in His Father's house but the religious leaders of his time were barely tolerant of the ones seen as being outside the covenant community.

So the other reasons that lead to anger are intolerence and lack of acceptance. While these two words may seem easy to understand, the reality is that we do not have to just tolerate other people, we must love them. This is the greatest command of God - love the Lord your God, and your neighbourfor upon these the laws and the prophets make meaning. Of course many people of the time of Jesus thought that their neighbour is only the one who professes the same religious belief, comes from the same cultural background and/or has the same outlook to life. Christ corrected this is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Paul explains what it really means to live a life of love when he tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that:
"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."

Based on this, love helps one put life in perspective. So one can deduce that uncontrolled anger could be pointing to undealt with issues which may be related to love of oneself, love of others, or love of God.