I may be a simple mind, but I guess that is what I would call a constructive use of anger…

So, God is still allowed anger and I’m still the sinner who can’t help being angry but is trying to understand it, get underneath it, and fight the injustices that it tends to throw in my face.  But that’s just me…

Thanks man.

Also, I am in the image of God yet I have been a porn addict, greedy shoplifter, inattentive father, selfish friend, poor listener, egomaniacal rock star, and much more that is outside the image of God.

I cannot be all that God is.  And all that I am is not what God is.

On anger, Paul says get rid of ALL anger and bitterness.  That word “anger” in the Greek means – you guessed it – anger.

in Psalm 137 (the psalm Jesus quotes in his third beatitude on meekness) we’re told not to be angry or fret – the word is where we get our word “char” as in burned.  Don’t get burned up about stuff.  Why?  The psalmist says if we’re committed, trusting, God there’s no need.  God is in control of the world, not us.  So, don’t worry, fret, or be angry.

I love science, especially psychology – I do – but it doesn’t trump the bible for me.  Nor does pragmatism.  The bible’s clear: don’t be angry.  Old and New Testament.  We’re not God.  And because HE is we’ve got no good reason to be pissed off…no matter how much good we may be able to wring out of it.

There is some very interesting psychological research going on in regards to “constructive anger” and its active expression via relationship.  For those interested, check it out:

Constructive anger verbal behavior predicts blood pressure in a population-based sample. By: Davidson, Karina, MacGregor, Michael Wm., Stuhr, Judith, Dixon, Kim, MacLean, David, Health Psychology, 02786133, 20000101, Vol. 19, Issue 1

I especially recommend checking out the 12 ways of dealing with anger constrcutively (Table 1).  For those skeptics out there, I ask you a simple question:  when you get angry, what do you do with it?

Peace

So I find it helpful in situations like that to remember that usually, whatever went wrong isn’t the fault of the person whose job it is to deal with me. In other words, don’t shoot the messenger.

That said, I’ve found that it often helps to be firm. Throwing a temper tantrum isn’t good, but letting yourself get pushed around by people who are too lazy to do their jobs and/or afraid to admit they or their superiors/subordinates/company/whatever made a mistake also isn’t good. The dude/chick behind the counter is often at the bottom of the food chain, and may not know exactly what to do with your special circumstance when a computer glitch erases your reservation, or weather cancels your flight, or whatever. I’ve seen people just go “Oh, well, I guess I’ll figure something else out” and be on their way, but in those situations, it might be better to calmly but firmly ask if anything can be done to remedy the situation rather than just letting the lackey at the counter throw up their hands and say, “Uh, sorry.” At the very least, you can always ask to speak with management, and allow the lackey to keep the line moving along, all without making a big scene out of it.

And usually when I have to be firm with someone in a low-on-the-totem-pole position, I let ‘em know that I realize this isn’t their fault, but that I need to speak to someone with the authority to make a decision regarding how to handle my unique situation. Because that was the best way for me to handle things back at the video store when the customer insisted they’d returned their last rental at 9:59 PM and shouldn’t have to pay an extra day for it, and so forth.