Anger is Acid

A Senior Monk and a Junior Monk were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side. The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman. Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his 
journey. The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them. Two more hours passed, then three, and finally, the younger monk could contain himself any longer and blurted out, “As monks, we are not permitted a woman; how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?” The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river; why are you still carrying her?” Mark Twain said, “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” Life will have plenty of opportunities for anger. The tricky part about anger is that it is a God-given emotion.  Even Jesus got angry. The distinguishing factor is that our Lord’s anger was righteous anger.  I don't want to sound pious, but His anger was healthy, and your anger could be too. Dr. Henry Cloud, in his helpful book, 9 Things a Leader Must Do, teaches the following: “Hate is one of the most important aspects of being human. It is one of the most crucial ingredients of a good person's character. What we hate says a lot about who we are, what we value, and what we care about… basically we are defined in part by what we love and what we hate. What we love shows what we will invest in, go for, move toward, give time and resources to, and orient ourselves toward with the best part of who we are. You can tell a lot about people by what they hate.” Let’s circle back to the story at the beginning. The point of today's post is to give you a proper understanding of anger. Unhealthy anger can and will destroy you over the course of your life if left unchecked. It has a way of blinding, isolating, and spilling over to every area of your life.  I have heard it said, "If you don't heal what hurt you, you will bleed on people who didn't cut you." And that's unfair.