A Norvell Note
Vol. 27 No. 14
April 3, 2023
The Anger and the Pain
“In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, …Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:26, 31, 32 (NIV)
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19, 20 (NIV)
I wish reading these words would be enough to stop the anger and violence in our world.
I wish the words “be kind and compassionate to one another” would be powerful enough to change the hearts and minds of the people who are so angry before they go into elementary schools and start shooting.
I wish we could learn to be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”
I wish I could erase the images of parents rushing to Covenant School in Nashville clutching their children. I want to remove the feelings of helplessness. I wish I could stop being sad. And I wish there was something I could do to make things better. I want my wishes to change something.
I know that I cannot change people, I cannot change hearts, and I cannot make the rage and anger disappear. I also cannot take away the pain and suffering of the victims of rage and anger. I cannot make the anger go away.
So, I pray.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen (The Prayer of St. Francis)
Tom
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