The Poisoned Cup of Anger

What do you do when something truly unjust and cruel has happened, but there’s no resolution in sight, and you can see that continuing to pursue justice does not necessarily serve a higher purpose?

There’s something very human about wanting justice served when we have been wronged. The drive to see the truth unearthed and justice served is natural, but, sadly, not always possible. Sometimes it’s just not the hand we’re dealt.

So then we have the option, what’s best for me and others in this context? Does holding on to this anger serve any purpose?

In fact, anger has been known to cause harm to the human body for millenia. Many non-western healing traditions recognize it as a threat to health and well being. Traditional Chinese medicine recognizes that the noxious effects of chronic anger can slowly poison the body, particularly the liver.

Anger activates the sympathetic nervous system, releasing adrenaline and cortisol, which increases heart rate and blood pressure, causing long term health risks such as heart disease.

Unresolved anger worsens sleep, and is linked to anxiety and depression and other mental health issues. It can cause cognitive impairment, slowly deteriorating memory, attention, and decision-making abilities over time. It can also disrupt normal digestive processes.

Religious texts similarly acknowledge the detrimental effects of uncontrolled anger. While righteous anger can occasionally be justified, such as when Jesus drove out the money changers from the temple, the Bible and other religious texts generally warn against its corrosive effects.

Proverbs 14:29 states, "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly".

Ephesians 4:26: "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."

The Baha’i scripture unequivocally states that anger and jealousy have a detrimental effect on the body. Baha’u’llah states “Jealousy consumeth the body and anger doth burn the liver: avoid these two as you would a lion.”

Even Native American teachings warn against the harmful effects of chronic negative emotions in the well known tale of the elderly Cherokee brave who tells his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said "my son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, resentment. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?..."

The old Cherokee simply replied, "the one that you feed.”

So, this morning, after another night of poor sleep in which my mind could not let go of a recent injustice, I got up feeling tired, with a splitting headache and decided that I was allowing my righteous anger to slowly poison me.

So, I took my son to school and then took a long walk, said a prayer for healing and released the harm done, symbolically, in the pebbles I threw into the creek. As I threw them, I named the injustice(s) aloud, and let them go. It’s a Lakota Sioux healing ritual called Wičháŋpi Wóyute (star feeding).

Because what those people did to me and those who I love happened months ago. Their part in it is between them and God.

Whether I choose to relive the injustice of it every night when I’m unable to sleep is between me and my own psyche.

I will not choose to drink from the cup of that anger every day, to do so is to subject myself slowly to poisoning of my own design