Have you noticed what an angry and stressed people we are? There is anger at the traffic, anger because of caste, anger because of discrimination, anger because of injustice. People are angry because of a lack of punctuality and out of impatience too.
Anger is directed at spouses, children, parents, bosses, drivers, clergy, teachers, policemen and a host of others. There is no dearth of ways that people use to vent their anger and they are not very pleasant. An otherwise calm and composed bystander turns hysterical when someone inadvertently collides with him/her. Screaming at the top of his/her lungs s/he gathers a crowd who, hearing a wisp of the story and immediately take sides against the petrified, innocent offender who is prevented from leaving the scene. First he is pushed to the extent that he stumbles and falls then a few casual passersby contribute kicks and shoves till the arm of the law arrives…late enough, after everyone’s anger is exhausted and the incident is forgotten. The innocent victim rises and painfully makes his way out of the scene of his ‘crime,’ but not before he himself is seething because he was helpless. A chain reaction has begun...more anger.
There is such anger and anxiety as a mother gets junior ready for school or as she prepares breakfast to the breadwinner of the family who is already fuming like a pressure cooker. It is no wonder that before long will be some kind of explosion blow off some steam and the defenceless and innocent are the victims.
Why is it so difficult to interact with Christian patience and civility? Why can’t Christ’s assurance of peace come home to us: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you”? Our quick rebuttal is: “That’s all fine for the church, father, but try getting things done at home/office/bus/train and see if anything happens. You need to raise your voice a bit.”
Are you aware that this anger is invariably laced with pride - a lethal cocktail. It is a sense of personal self-esteem gone haywire. It is only a peaceful heart that nurtures a peaceful attitude, allowing us to live peaceably even in rough situations. Unfortunately we’ve convinced ourselves of the fallacy that peaceful people are weak, they are the underdogs and they are inefficient. Yet people hardly respect those who pride themselves in arm-twisting to get things done. Pride coupled with anger becomes the lever to establish one’s ascendency to get your way! That’s a cowardly tactic!
It takes a woman like Mary to teach us the power of peaceful courage. In spite of all the anger and hatred around her, she lived silently, peacefully and confidently and today we hail her as the Queen of Peace. There is power in peace and strength in humility. Pride, anger and anxiety have an undergirding of fear, weakness, insecurity and cowardice but humility and peace require far greater courage.




 

Fr. Ian Doulton sdb