One of the virtues I admire most about children is that one can be so angry at the other, to the point where one wants to kill the other - but 10 minutes later, they've both forgotten the whole matter, laughing and playing as if it never happened. For whatever reason, though, we lose this as adults. People grow up to hold grudges. Pride paralyzes us. Our memories become our enemies.
When one is angry, one is necessarily sincere; few people can successfully fake anger. Anger is irrational - it comes from the heart. It is therefore crucial to examine what the heart holds; what makes it angry, and what doesn't, and adjust accordingly. We are permitted - and indeed commanded - to become angry with evil. One who isn't angry when their beliefs are under fire holds a degree of apathy. One who is angry all the time is likely self-centered. Somewhere between those two extremes lies the proper dosage of anger.
Once we've figured out the dosage, we need to figure out how to apply it. We are not to use it to protect our own pride. It's often said that "X will get you in a mess, pride will keep you there." It's refusing to turn around when the signs unequivocally say "you're going the wrong way, idiot." Thus, the second part of the verse is just as crucial as the first. Like children, we should get angry, but once we cool down, we must rid ourselves of it entirely.
It's quite possibly one of the oddest commandments I've ever read - but I've realized recently why it's so crucial to be angry. My best work is often performed during periods of anger and passion. This is not uncommon. In advising new comedians on how they should perform their act, experienced ones will often advise them not to think of what makes them laugh, but rather what makes them angry; those tend to be the best acts.
"'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil."
--Paul the Apostle, quoting King David. Eph 4:26.
When one is angry, one is necessarily sincere; few people can successfully fake anger. Anger is irrational - it comes from the heart. It is therefore crucial to examine what the heart holds; what makes it angry, and what doesn't, and adjust accordingly. We are permitted - and indeed commanded - to become angry with evil. One who isn't angry when their beliefs are under fire holds a degree of apathy. One who is angry all the time is likely self-centered. Somewhere between those two extremes lies the proper dosage of anger.
Once we've figured out the dosage, we need to figure out how to apply it. We are not to use it to protect our own pride. It's often said that "X will get you in a mess, pride will keep you there." It's refusing to turn around when the signs unequivocally say "you're going the wrong way, idiot." Thus, the second part of the verse is just as crucial as the first. Like children, we should get angry, but once we cool down, we must rid ourselves of it entirely.
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