Dealing with Anger
I
used to sell stuff I crocheted at craft fairs. I made a large Winnie-the-Pooh
with his little red shirt, Piglet, Eeyore and his gloomy-sad eyes, and Tigger
with his ready-to-bounce curly tail—really cute if I say so myself. A young
woman bought two of them and paid by check, later coming back to buy the other
two. I wrote her license number on the checks. They bounced, over $125.00, a
large sum for me, even larger back at that time. She’d done the same to other vendors at the fair.
We all reported her to the police. Nothing came of it.
Feeling
victimized, I visualized finding her, showing up, and barging in with righteous
wrath to grab back my property. I’d rarely been so angry and disgusted, with
her of course and with myself for being taken in. I tried not to obsess, tried
to move on. Didn’t work. I pictured the woman in handcuffs. Then I remembered
the little towheaded kids with her.
I
started praying for them—poor little kids with such a mother. Eventually, I
brought her into the prayers. When my requests for her well-being became real
(took a while), the anger and helpless feeling lessened and finally
disappeared. It was one of the most important lessons of my life.
It
really is impossible to pray that God watch over people and bless them while
hating or being angry at them for an extended period. You don’t condone or
whitewash their behavior, but you do wind up forgiving them. How else could
your prayer become real?
This
may be a case of “fake it till you make it,” an old phrase that works well
here. I recommend praying for those whose behavior you despise or who have
wronged or hurt you somehow until it becomes an honest prayer for their
welfare. It’s amazing what it does for your peace of mind and sense of personal
power.
Friday
in The Point of the Gospel—Jesus is
baptized.
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