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The Spiritual Man, book by H. H. Pope Shenouda III

48- Concerning anger

 

St-Takla.org Image: Rembrandt van Rijn 1606-1669, Harmensz, Netherlands - One of the artist's earliest prints belongs to a series of etchings in which he portrayed himself with a range of extreme facial expressions. Here he has depicted himself in an angry mood. He appears to have turned his head with sudden violence, giving the picture a sense of spontaneity. Rembrandt s face is partly shaded. His unkempt hair and swarthy fur coat accentuate the dark look on his face صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: للفنان رامبران فان ريجين، لوحة لنفسه وهو غاضب - حفر قوالب - 1630

Or what we may call “nerve-control”.

The spiritual man tries to keep away from anger, according to the saying of the Holy Bible: “For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (Jas 1:20).

If he finds that anger has moved in his heart, he does not let it take control over his tongue or his nerves.

So he does his best to control his words at the time of anger, either by remaining silent or by dominating his talk. Or most of all, he will dismiss anger from his heart... And by all means, he will try to calm himself so he would not blow up, raise his voice or flare up... He will also try to quieten his features.. He will act according to the Apostle’s saying: “Let every man be slow to speak, slow to wrath” (Jas 1:19). Because the one who is quick to wrath falls in rashness and commits many sins. He may take action that he will regret very much when he is calm. He would feel that in his anger, he lost his divine image and became a stumbling block for many...

The spiritual man does not write a letter at a time of anger. He does not take a decision at a time of anger.

And if he wrote a letter while he is angry, he does not rush and mail it, but leaves it for one or two days. He then reads again to revise it, tear it or writes another one, so it would not become a document of sin against him and its results would be unsatisfactory. The same with the decisions that one takes at the time of anger. They are called emotional decisions. Most of them are wrong and unwise decisions. And the Holy Bible says that:

“Anger rests in the bosom of fools” (Eccles 7:9).